Following the New York Jets 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, dropping their record to 2-4, quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasted no time laying the blame at the feet of wide receiver Mike Williams.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Aaron Rodgers — detailing a game-sealing interception that he threw while the Jets were driving to either tie or win the game — made sure to specifically name-check Williams and what he did wrong on the play.
“There’s two verticals, Allen (Lazard)’s down the seam, and Mike’s down the red line,” Rodgers said during the press conference after the Monday Night Football loss. “So, I’m throwing a no look to the red line. When I peak my eyes back there Mike’s running an ‘in-breaker’ … it’s gotta be down the red line.”
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Then, on the nationally-televised Pat McAfee Show the next day, Rodgers doubled down on throwing Williams under the bus, adding insult to the injury of the Jets just trading for Davante Adams to replace him. Rodgers, of course, made sure to lead with the fact that he’s always critical of himself, too.
“If you watch my press conferences, you know I started with myself. When I’ve made mistakes, ‘I’ve got to play better, make that throw,’ that’s the standard for everyone,” Rodgers told McAfee.
“There were a lot of mistakes throughout the night, but if you’re looking at just that play, that’s what the questions were. ‘What happened on that play?’ Well, it was two verticals on the right side. Mike needed to get to the red line, which would’ve been a big gain, so I wasn’t calling Mike out for anything other than his responsibility in the details of that play. I have a lot of love and respect for Mike; he’s done some nice things for us, but in that play, he wasn’t in the right spot. You can make more of that if you want to, but we should all be held to a standard. I hold myself to a standard of greatness, and it hasn’t been there at certain times.”
After catching wind of Rodgers’ comments, former New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick — who was with the team for the most successful season they’ve had in over a decade, their 10-win campaign in 2015 — took to social media to call Rodgers out for his now-notoriously self-centered style of leadership.
“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,” Fitzpatrick tweeted following Rodgers’ weekly Tuesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “The need to set the record straight at the expense of someone lesser than just hurts me.”
