New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have told the world that he had nothing to do with the firing of team head coach Robert Saleh, but the signal caller isn’t fooling Stephen A. Smith.
On Tuesday, Saleh was sacked from his position atop the Jets suddenly and unceremoniously by team owner Woody Johnson.
The following day, Rodgers went onto The Pat McAfee Show to tell the world that he was not the reason for Saleh’s firing – calling him a ‘damn good coach’.
On the ‘ridiculous’ allegations that he instigated the firing, Rodgers fumed: ‘I resent any of those accusations, and they’re patently false.
‘It’s interesting the amount of power people think I have, which I don’t.’
Aaron Rodgers has claimed he was completely unaware of the Jets’ plans to fire Robert Saleh
Smith isn’t convinced that Rodgers hands were completely clean – and he called out the quarterback on Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s ‘First Take’.
‘If you’re Aaron Rodgers, yeah, you didn’t go into the office and say, ‘I want him fired.’ You didn’t go into the office and say, ‘I want him out.’ That may be true,’ Smith said.
‘But don’t act like you are completely oblivious to what was going on, what the tenor of the situation was like, how things were eroding before our very eyes and that the owner wouldn’t take notice of all of these things.
‘And somehow, someway, when y’all got on the phone with one another, y’all were talking about the chocolate chip cookies and the milk you were drinking. Just stop that nonsense.
‘It’s amazing how it’s so difficult for folks to just simply tell the truth. It’s not like we’re completely oblivious and not cognizant of what the hell is going on.
‘And when Aaron Rodgers tried to give that impression, that’s when I think the believability factor went out the window.’
Rodgers said he had a discussion with Johnson the night before Saleh was fired – but denied that Saleh’s job status came up in their conversation.
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith called that assertion from Rodgers ‘nonsense’
Saleh was fired from his job after going 20-36 over the course of four NFL seasons
Rodgers has a reputation for quarrelling with his coaches in the past – including with former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who now is in charge in Dallas.
The quarterback has also been deceitful about non-football things, such as his Covid vaccine status.
Back in 2021, Rodgers told reporters that he was ‘immunized’ but it was later revealed that he had never received the vaccine. He has gone on to regret doing that.
Saleh was fired Tuesday morning in the midst of his fourth season with the Jets. New York was off to a 2-3 start after consecutive losses, but could take over first place in the division with a win Monday night over the Buffalo Bills.
