Greg Jennings has seemed quite bitter since he left the Green Bay Packers and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. You would think a five-year, $45 million contract would be enough to make a player forget his old team, but Jennings has had some controversial things to say about former teammate Aaron Rodgers on more than one occasion. On Thursday, he apologized.
“Aaron’s a phenomenal quarterback,” Jennings told Mark Craig of the Star-Tribune. “He knows that. No one needs to tell him that. What he’s done over the course of the last five years? Phenomenal. He set the bar high for quarterbacks in this league. He set the bar high for offenses in this league. Everything I say is all out of fun. I’m just saying something just to say it. They know that’s not me.”
Jennings finally mentioned Rodgers by name, which is something he has seemingly avoided throughout the offseason. Jennings recently said that Rodgers was praised so much in Green Bay that it became difficult for him to hold himself accountable, and Vikings coach Leslie Frazier later told his new receiver to stop talking about his former team.
“I was on the field and [Frazier] ran over to me and asked me what I said,” Jennings explained. “That was really the gist of it. He said, `Keep it about our guys.’ Literally, that was it. I don’t really recall saying anything negative about Aaron or anyone over there, but, hey, I apologize.”
But did he call Rodgers personally to apologize?
“No. For what?” Jennings asked. “I’m apologizing right now. If it got to him with [the media] right now, I feel if I apologize right here, he’ll hear that, too. Will you make sure he hears that?”
In my opinion, Jennings hasn’t said anything offensive enough about Rodgers or the Packers to warrant an apology. That being said, he has made himself sound like someone who can’t get over his former team not wanting to keep him around. Burying the hatchet and moving forward is probably the best thing for all parties.
