Aaron Rodgers took a not-so-subtle dig at Haason Reddick, who is supposed to be his Jets teammate.
While making his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, McAfee asked Rodgers about an Athletic article from before the season that quoted an anonymous NFL agent saying there is “disarray” surrounding the Jets from how they treat Aaron Rodgers differently than other players.
“Just reading that headline there, it sounds like it was written by Haason Reddick’s agent,” Rodgers said. “Former agent, I guess, possibly. In a way to disparage our great organization.”
Reddick, whom the Jets acquired from the Eagles for a conditional third-round pick this past offseason, has continued to hold out as he seeks a new contract and previously requested a trade.
In the Athletic article, the agent claimed that Rodgers has too much power on the team and that the Jets “have been unable to convert him into a team player,” referencing Rodgers missing mandatory minicamp in June.
“I would say the culture here is the opposite of what that headline said,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers then blasted all the stories and headlines about his absence from mandatory minicamp.
“When you perform like you do Thursday [in the Jets’ 24-3 win over the Patriots] and you’re 2-1, and obviously you never know what can happen as the season goes on, but I think you realize how ridiculous some of these offseason storylines can be,” Rodgers said. “Is anyone talking about minicamp anymore? Does anybody feel like that is an important contributor in the season? The answer is no, it shouldn’t. Because it’s not.”
Through three games, Rodgers has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 624 yards, five touchdowns and one interception along with a 103.1 passer rating.
And to defend the team’s culture around him, Rodgers pointed to his offensive line having his back.
“They have become the bodyguards, the police of the team, which is really, really, important,” Rodgers said. “The best teams I’ve been on, the line polices the squad and they have each other’s backs and they pick people up off the field and are the first ones in to back up a brother.
“Morgan [Moses] did that for me, and John [Simpson] as well, in Tennessee when Jeff Simmons gave me a hard little shoulder. The first person in there was [Moses]. The second person in there was John. Those guys were both in Baltimore last year. Obviously they bought into something in our culture that they can hold on to.”