Aaron Rodgers makes feelings clear on Mike Williams as Jets deal WR on trade deadline
Aaron Rodgers had come under fire from NFL fans because they felt he was the reason that Robert Saleh lost his job as head coach of the New York Jets. And now, Mike Williams has been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before fans came out with their pitchforks for Rodgers, he made his feelings clear on the latest episode of "The Pat McAfee Show."
He started off by saying that Mike Williams had been coming off a severe injury. Last season, he had sustained a torn ACL, which Rodgers admitted was a tough injury to come back from. However, he said that Williams had "worked his a** off" during the offseason to get back to his pre-injury abilities.
Aaron Rodgers said that he had sustained a similar injury last year, referring to his Achilles injury, which saw him miss out on the entire 2023 season. According to the 4x NFL MVP, the toughest part about the injury was the mental part.
"Mike's good guy. He'll be good in that locker room. Obviously, a lot of great veteran leadership. He's had nice career. And sometimes a change of scenery is... great for certain guys."
With veteran players such as Russell Wilson with the Steelers, Williams will get the mentorship and guidance he needs to grow as a player in the NFL. Rodgers went on to reveal the real reason why he was being traded to the Steelers.
"We kind of knew with Davante coming in, that there'd be less targets for everybody. Because, you know, G's leading the league in targets. He didn't get his targets and Tae's a dynamic player, he's needed his targets. So if this gives Mike more opportunities, that's awesome. And we wish Mike well."
After Aaron Rodgers and Adams were reunited after the Jets traded for him in mid-October, it meant that Williams, who was already facing serious competition from Garett Wilson, would be targeted even less with Adams in the house.
Aaron Rodgers comes clean about Mike Williams' public criticism
After criticizing Williams from the podium after the loss to divisional rivals, the Buffalo Bills, Rodgers cleared the air on why he had done so in an earlier episode of "The Pat McAfee Show."
"So 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."
According to Aaron Rodgers, he was just holding him to the standards as he did the rest of the team and expected nothing but the best from him. And as captain of the team, he feels that it's his responsibility to hold teammates accountable for their mistakes.