There was a time in Green Bay when a play call was never truly final until Aaron Rodgers had seen the defense for himself. One look across the line could send the QB into a completely different call, leaving Matt LaFleur and the Packers to live with Rodgers’ decision. That worked well enough to achieve two MVP seasons, but it became a constant point of debate surrounding the duo. Years later, one comparison has once again brought old tensions back to light.
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NFL legend Shannon Sharpe discussed how Rodgers reacted to Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s praise of Jordan Love’s pre-snap abilities. The veteran QB brushed off LaFleur’s comparison, calling him a “clown” and showing that he won’t let any slight go, regardless of who it comes from.
“One thing you can’t say about Aaron Rodgers. He will not let one slight, regardless of who says it about him; he ain’t letting ish pass. Former coach, former teammate, president of the United States, if you say something about him, he might not mention it now in this situation; he mentioned his name. Sometimes he don’t mention names, but you know who he’s talking about,” said Sharpe on the Night Cap podcast.
Rodgers spent four seasons playing under LaFleur in Green Bay and won consecutive MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. During those two seasons, the Packers went 26-6 with Rodgers under center, while he led the NFL with 85 TDs and posted a 116.7 passer rating.
So, LaFleur’s comments on Love being the best QB he has worked around in terms of protections and adjustments did not sit well with Rodgers.
“He’s probably still mad I changed too many of his plays,” Rodgers said on the Wilde and Tausch podcast. “Big statement when you had a guy win back-to-back MVPs. Guess I wasn’t doing too much at the LOS. Matt’s a clown man; he says some things from time to time, then says, ‘ Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”
In all fairness, it’s no secret that Rodgers had a habit of changing plays at the last moment. Even when LaFleur was hired in 2019, the main challenge that both the HC and QB faced was Rodgers’ ability to call and change plays at the line of scrimmage.
“Aaron and I have had some good talks, and we’re going to have to talk a lot more — and one thing we have to work through is the audible thing,” LaFleur said back then.
The reason Rodgers had such a habit was the way he worked under former Packers HC Mike McCarthy. The coach gave Rodgers full freedom to pull the emergency brake and call an entirely new play during his 13 years with the franchise.
However, former wide receiver Chad Johnson argued that Rodgers’ adjustments were part of what made him successful.
“You got to understand Aaron Rodgers is actually on that field. So when Aaron Rodgers is on that field, and the play comes in, and he sees something else with his own eyes based on what he can see that’s in front of him, he’s going to change the play. Now, at times, coaches don’t like that,” said Johnson.
Green Bay Packers’ offense also became more efficient as Rodgers adapted to LaFleur’s system, which made their partnership a successful QB-coach duo of that period.
Sharpe strongly disagrees with comparing any QB to a legendary QB like Aaron Rodgers, believing there was no need to compare Love’s current abilities to those of a four-time MVP. Yet a disagreement over pre-snap reads has connected the two QBs, reviving a complicated history between Rodgers and LaFleur.