A day after Aaron Rodgers made his first public comments about his desire for a trade out of Green Bay, Packers coach Matt LaFleur fielded questions about his MVP quarterback’s future once more.
“Aaron definitely knows how we feel about him, how he’s such an important part to our football team, such an important part to our organization,” LaFleur said Tuesday at Packers’ organized team activities. “We’re just going to continue to try to work through this and hopefully can get him back in the building at some point.”
Rodgers joined Kenny Mayne’s final episode of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” Monday night and explained that no, his issue with the Packers is not about their decision to select quarterback Jordan Love in the first round in 2020’s draft, but more generally about the “philosophy” of the organization.
“I love Jordan. He’s a great kid,” Rodgers said. “(We’ve had) a lot of fun to work together. Love the coaching staff, love my teammates, love the fan base in Green Bay. An incredible 16 years.
“It’s just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make the thing go. It’s about character, it’s about culture, it’s about doing things the right way.”
The Packers’ front office has said in statements to the media that it remains committed to Rodgers for 2021 and beyond. But Rodgers, whose trade request was made public a month ago on the first day of the draft, is digging his heels in. He did not report for voluntary OTAs in Green Bay this week.
That leaves LaFleur and the Packers unsure of who will start under center for them in September.
“We kind of talked about this with our football team. Right now there’s things that are in your control, and there are certain things that are out of your control,” LaFleur said. “I think that just our mindset right now is to focus on each individual. (Each individual) is focused on the things that they can control, and we need everybody to be at their best for us to continue to progress as a football team. So that’s kind of been the focus throughout.”
LaFleur added praise for Love, who did not take a snap as a rookie in 2020, saying “the ball is really jumping out of his hands right now.”
“We’re excited about some of the progress we’ve seen with him, but certainly there’s a long way to go there,” LaFleur said.
–Field Level Media