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GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – Aaron Rodgers has spoken about how important it is to stay in touch with Jordan Love during his absence from the Green Bay Packers during the offseason, said he and coach Matt LaFleur picked up where they were. stopped last year and revealed wide receiver Randall Cobb moved in with him after last week’s trade.
Yet when it comes to managing director Brian Gutekunst – a man he has known longer than any of the previous ones – he called their relationship a “work in progress, for sure”.
Gutekunst and the Packers’ front office were hit the hardest when Rodgers finally voiced his grievances upon returning to the squad last week. A week after the start of training camp, Rodgers and Gutekunst were seen at least once talking for several minutes during training.
“Relationships don’t form in a matter of days,” Rodgers said Wednesday of Gutekunst, who has been general manager since 2018 and a member of the Packers scouting staff since 1998. “There is a time when respect grows and laity grows. communication follows. I think the best relationships you have with your friends and relatives involve conversation and flow. You can’t talk to a close friend for a few months and pick up where you left off. There are no communication breakdowns, there are no forced conversations, or you need to contact this person because they are on your to-do list that day.
“It’s about wanting to have these conversations and wanting to be in a conversation like that, and we’ve had a few conversations and they’ve been positive conversations.”
While Rodgers skipped the entire offseason schedule, Love served as QB1. It was a role Rodgers played during the offseason when he was Brett Favre’s replacement and the Packers allowed Favre to skip the offseason job.
But in these cases, Rodgers knew Favre would return to play – at least until Favre retired (and then did not retire) in 2008. Rodgers said those experiences with and without Favre “shaped the leadership. of my career ”and called the three seasons he has served as a backup“ an important time of growth for me. ”
In this case, no one really knew what Rodgers would do.
Rodgers said he tried to put himself in Love’s shoes.
“And then I just reached out; I reached out a number of times [to] check on him [and] see how he’s doing, ”Rodgers said. “I didn’t hide anything from him. I let him know where I was mentally and what I was thinking. And I hope he enjoyed it.
“I just felt that was what I wanted in this situation, just to hear from the guy. And also, there is a love, an appreciation and a friendship there, just like it was with me and Brett. So I wanted to make sure I checked him out and let him know I was thinking of him. “
Early on, Rodgers said his beef with the Packers was nothing personal against Love. Everything indicates that he took his mentorship seriously.
“I have a lot of respect and love for Jordan, and I understand what he’s been through must be tough,” Rodgers said. “I lived it for two years in the offseason, in ’06 and ’07, I was the guy the whole offseason, going through quarterback school, going through most of the OTAs, in taking all the reps, then here’s Favrey coming back – and obviously I’m back on the bench. Luckily I’ve been there, and I can figure out what he’s going through a little bit, so I’m just trying to keep that in there. ‘mind all the time. “
LaFleur said last week that he, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and passing play coordinator Luke Getsy should make Rodgers understand the changes they’ve made to the offense, and Rodgers thinks it’s been okay. .
“There are always things I want to veto, but I’ve learned to choose my battles,” Rodgers said. “What’s good about the relationship between Matt and me and having Hack and Getsy is that the lines of communication are fantastic. We always talk through things, and I think we just understand the personality a bit. the other.”
He appears to have picked up where he left off with Rodgers’ game MVP last year. He was lively from the start of camp despite not having any receivers to throw while training at his home in Southern California – he said he actually pitched at some NBA players, including Davion Mitchell and Al Harrington, who were training in his gym – to anyone’s surprise.
“No, no. I mean, it’s Aaron Rodgers,” Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard said. “He’s not a quarterback; he’s a professional ball pitcher.”
He’s a professional host too, at least until Cobb’s family returned to Green Bay after last week’s trade – the one Rodgers orchestrated – of the Houston Texans.
“It was fun spending time with him before he left my house and the wife and kids moved in,” Rodgers said. “We had a great time talking on the ball and making up for lost time last week.”
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