Aaron Rodgers takes swipe at 'trolls' after Green Bay Packers handle Detroit Lions
It certainly seems like Aaron Rodgers reads the comments.
Following the Green Bay Packers' 35-17 win over the Detroit Lions on Monday, the superstar quarterback made it acutely apparent that he picked up on some of the noise after the Packers started 0-1.
"I think we maybe tried to show that we cared a little bit more tonight," Rodgers said in his postgame news conference.
When pressed on what he meant by that comment, Rodgers doubled down.
"I just think people like to say a lot of bulls---, and it’s nice to come back in here after a game like that," Rodgers said. " … I think that there’s even more now than when I started playing. There’s so many overreactions that happen on a week-to-week basis. So it’s nice to come out, have a good performance and get the trolls off our back for at least a week."
And it was a good performance, indeed.
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Rodgers went 21-for-27 (81.5%) for 255 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 145.6 on Monday. Down 17-14 heading into the second half, Rodgers orchestrated two lengthy touchdown drives to give Green Bay the lead for good.
The first drive went for 87 yards on eight plays. The second was an 11-play, 75-yard drive to make it a two-possession game, capped by an 11-yard receiving touchdown for running back Aaron Jones, who finished the game with four TDs.
With Green Bay's defense keyed on Lions QB Jared Goff — who had two fumbles (one lost) and an interception after halftime — it was smooth sailing for Rodgers & Co. in the second half.
Despite the impressive bounce-back performance, it was Rodgers' postgame swipe at critics that garnered a lot of attention Tuesday morning.
Chris Broussard of "First Things First" explained that while it's unconventional for a QB to be so candid, a feisty Rodgers is a best-case scenario for Green Bay.
"Now the comments, that was interesting," Broussard said. "There's a part of me that would like him to be more like a Lamar Jackson, maybe even a Pat Mahomes, where you just ignore the outside noise. … [But] Aaron Rodgers is a guy that plays his best football when he has doubters, when he's paying attention to the skeptics and the haters and he has a chip on his shoulder and feels like he has something to prove."
Chris Broussard: 'Aaron Rodgers plays his best when he has a chip on his shoulder' I FIRST THINGS FIRST
Broussard's fellow host, Nick Wright, also weighed in on Rodgers' evening, saying that the QB's game overshadowed his comments.
However, Wright finds it fascinating how available Rodgers makes himself to the media on a daily basis.
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To Shannon Sharpe of "Undisputed," Rodgers' big game against Detroit shouldn't have come as a shock, and he gave Rodgers a C grade for Monday's performance.
"I thought Aaron Rodgers did what I expected him to do against not a very good football team," Sharpe said. " … I'm not rewarding a college senior that graduated magna cum laude with winning a fifth-grade spelling bee. That's what you should do. … Now, he goes out and does that against the [Los Angeles] Rams, or he does that against one of these top-flight teams, OK. Now I'm going to give him some kudos."
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"Aaron Rodgers did exactly what we expected" — Shannon Sharpe on Packers win over Lions I UNDISPUTED
Meanwhile, Skip Bayless said Rodgers is past the point of being judged by big wins in the regular season. At this point in Rodgers' career, he's being graded on how he performs when the lights are brightest, in Bayless' eyes.
"From this point forward, all that matters to me is: What does he do for you in the postseason?" Bayless said. "… I'm going to remind everybody, he fell to 1-4 in NFC Championship Games by stinking up the fourth quarter of the game against Tom Brady and the [Tampa Bay] Buccaneers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game this past season."
After an offseason full of drama for Rodgers and the Packers, the regular season is following suit — and Rodgers, intentionally or not, is fanning the flames.
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