Aaron Rodgers was in a surly mood after losing to the New York Giants on Sunday, and one of his teammates did not help matters any.
Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers suffered a tough 27-22 loss to the Giants in London during Week 5. It was a frustrating game in which some notable Packers sounded upset at the team’s playcalling down the stretch.
After the game, another Packer, cornerback Jaire Alexander, shared his mindset about the loss.
“I ain’t worried, but if we lose next week, then I’ll be worried,” Alexander said, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
Those comments irked Rodgers, who went on a mini-rant when asked about Alexander’s quote.
“Frankly, I don’t like all this conversation about losing next week,” said Rodgers, also per Schneidman. “I’m a firm believer in the power of words and manifestation. And we got to check ourselves on that. Because talking about that, that’s not winning football. There was conversation about that in the locker room and I don’t like it.
“[Alexander] is my guy, but we don’t need to be talking like that,” Rodgers continued. “I understand there is a reality in this game, there’s a win and a loss every single game. But there’s also reality in life that what you’re putting your energy toward, that’s where your focus is going to go. So I’m not gonna address the prospects of losing up here, other than we just lost this game.”
On one hand, Green Bay is still 3-2 (second in the NFC North), so there is no need to panic in the grand scheme of things. But any talk about potentially dropping next week as well (against an ascendant New York Jets team) is premature at best and a loser’s mentality at worst.
In any case, the four-time NFL MVP Rodgers has already faced criticism for his supposedly poor attitude toward teammates this year. The disappointing loss to the Giants in Week 5 may have only increased team tensions further.
