Packers role player shares how Aaron Rodgers helped him

August 12, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) smiles before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Rodgers has at times been saddled with a reputation for being a bit prickly with teammates and playing favorites in the locker room. That is not the experience one Green Bay Packers role player has had with him, though.

Punt returner Keisean Nixon, a first-year Packer who took over the role midseason after the release of Amari Rodgers, not only credited the quarterback with talking him up for the role, but said Rodgers had helped him open up in the locker room as well.

Keisean Nixon on the praise he's gotten from Aaron Rodgers lately: "I love 12, man. He actually opened me up a little bit to get more comfortable around here." pic.twitter.com/bnvuWGyGTX

— Nicole Menner (@NicoleMenner) December 22, 2022

“I love [Aaron Rodgers], man. He actually opened me up a little bit to get me more comfortable around here,” Nixon said. “I’m kind of a to-myself type of person. I’m a great locker room guy, just kind of in my shell kind of thing, and I was new here. 12 asked me, ‘Why are you so uptight?’ So he tried to give me a hug, and I pushed him and said ‘Don’t touch me no more.’ He was like, ‘Just bring it in.’ It felt good. I needed a hug.

“I didn’t give him a hug until Week 6 or 7. I didn’t even talk to him probably until, like, Week 3.”

“12” is a reference to Rodgers, as that’s his jersey number.

There have been reports this year that some of the Packers’ young wide receivers have felt scapegoated by Rodgers, which fueled an already-existing perception that Rodgers is not interested in mentoring a stable of young players. Maybe that is true for wide receivers, but it certainly does not seem to have applied to Nixon. There have been other examples that would dispute that claim as well.

On the other hand, Rodgers did not seem too fond of the Packers’ previous punt returner. Maybe in his own way he helped Nixon get the job.