Aaron Rodgers quickly came to the defense of Marquez Valdes-Scantling after Sunday’s costly fumble, and it’s clear the Green Bay Packers quarterback will continue supporting his teammate going forward.
Rodgers spoke about Valdes-Scantling’s overtime fumble during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday. Valdes-Scantling said after the loss to the Indianapolis Colts that he received death threats on social media, and Rodgers ripped Packers fans who would take things that far.
“I think we need some perspective in this time about production. Everybody wants to make these knee-jerk reactions to things and you forget about the facts — as the kids say these days, the big facts — that there’s a human element to this,” Rodgers said. “Anybody who is so distraught about this that they need to go to Twitter and talk about killing someone, I would suggest that you relax.
“It’s a game. We’re all trying our best. We’re trying to entertain you, but we’re also trying to do our best because we have a lot of pride in our performance. Nobody’s trying to do anything to f— up our season or your precious watching experience.”
You can hear Rodgers’ full remarks below, but beware that the clip contains some inappropriate language:
Chatting with @AaronRodgers12 about the @MVS__11 fumble & reaction
"There's a human element to this like anybody who is so distraught about this that they need to go twitter & talk about killing someone I would suggest that you RELAX" #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/3QywsN2Nnh
— Pat McAFLEET (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 24, 2020
The Packers got the ball first in overtime, and Valdes-Scantling fumbled at his own 30-yard line after catching a quick pass from Rodgers. That put the Colts in field goal position and essentially handed them the win. It was a huge physical mistake, but Rodgers and others defended MVS over it after the game.
No one feels worse about the play than Valdes-Scantling. Unfortunately, he is not the first NFL player this season — or even this month — to receive threats on social media over an on-field mistake.
