Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick asked an interesting question about Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers did not protect teammate Mike Williams following the New York Jets’ 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. Williams had run the wrong route on a play that resulted in an interception that sealed the Jets’ loss.
How do we know that Williams ran the wrong route? Because Rodgers told us.
During his usual Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers was asked by McAfee why the quarterback publicized Williams’ error.
Rodgers said that he begins every press conference by talking about himself and what he himself could have done better. Rodgers then said that he was asked specifically what happened on that play and told the media what had transpired.
“There were a lot of mistakes throughout the night, but if you’re looking at just that play, that’s what the question was. ‘What happened on that play?’… I wasn’t calling Mike out for anything other than his responsibility and the details in that play. I have a lot of love and respect for Mike — he does some nice things for us. On that play, he wasn’t in the right spot,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers does not believe there is an issue with being transparent.
“We all should be held to a standard, and I hold myself to a standard of greatness. And when it hasn’t been there, which it hasn’t been at certain times, I’ve stood up there and I gotta play better. … hopefully that’s an example for everybody else to start with themselves,” Rodgers said.
Fitzpatrick feels otherwise.
The former 17-year pro, who is now an analyst for Amazon, questioned Rodgers’ need to tell the truth publicly about what happened. Fitzpatrick shared his thoughts in a post on X (that was one very long run-on sentence).
“This response is the biggest thing I don’t understand about Aaron….can be super charismatic, his swagger gives teammates the ultimate confidence BUT why can’t he shoulder ALL the blame in the media and then get behind closed doors with Mike Williams or the whole offense or the whole team or anyone else that isn’t doing their job and tell them he needs more out of them
“The need to set the record straight at the expense of someone lesser than just hurts me,” Fitzpatrick wrote on X.
This response is the biggest thing I don’t understand about Aaron….can be super charismatic, his swagger gives teammates the ultimate confidence BUT
why can’t he shoulder ALL the blame in the media and then get behind closed doors with Mike Williams or the whole offense or the… pic.twitter.com/JyEhoX1DVP
— Ryan Fitzpatrick (@FitzMagic_14) October 15, 2024
Quarterbacks are often regarded as the leaders of teams, and it’s not uncommon for them to shoulder blame publicly in order to protect teammates. That wasn’t the case there with Rodgers, and the 40-year-old QB does not have regrets about how he handled things.
What do you think about Rodgers’ approach?
