GREEN BAY, Wis. — Three days after the depths of Aaron Rodgers‘ disgruntlement along with his staff got here to mild, his coach over the previous two seasons nonetheless “cannot fathom” the concept the reigning NFL MVP would think about not returning to the Green Bay Packers.
Like Packers staff president Mark Murphy and common supervisor Brian Gutekunst have mentioned within the days since ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the news on Thursday, Matt LaFleur was emphatic in his want for Rodgers to return.
However the challenge is not whether or not the Packers need Rodgers again however slightly that Rodgers does not wish to return.
“Yeah, I do know, and I am unable to even take my mind to that spot proper now,” LaFleur mentioned Saturday following the conclusion of the NFL draft. “So I simply wish to do every thing in my energy to make sure that does not occur.”
“I am unable to fathom [him] not being in Inexperienced Bay,” the Packers coach added later. “That is the place my thoughts’s at. I do not solely love the participant, however I really like the individual. I really like working with him each day; I believe all of us do — from the gamers in that locker room to the teaching employees. Once more, I do not even wish to let my thoughts go there.”
LaFleur wouldn’t disclose particulars of his latest conversations with Rodgers.
“I am going to at all times stay hopeful and optimistic, and definitely, we’ll at all times welcome him again with open arms,” LaFleur mentioned. “He is aware of precisely how not solely myself however our employees and our gamers really feel about him. Like I mentioned earlier than, I simply can’t think about him not being in a Inexperienced Bay Packer uniform.”
At this level, Jordan Love is the one quarterback within the Packers’ digital offseason program. It is unknown whether or not Rodgers will attend the voluntary periods once they flip to in-person work later this month, however he has usually been a daily participant in offseason packages and even has an offseason exercise bonus ($500,000) tied to it.
The Packers didn’t draft a quarterback this weekend. Gutekunst mentioned they mentioned a number of veteran choices earlier than the draft and that they seemingly will signal at the very least one undrafted rookie quarterback, however he insisted the Rodgers state of affairs has not been or is not going to be the impetus for that.
Love was the third-string quarterback final season as a rookie, and the plan was for him to be Rodgers’ high backup this season. Within the meantime, LaFleur has tried to insulate Love from the distractions.
“I’ve talked to Jordan, and I advised him, , there’s plenty of noise on the market,” LaFleur mentioned. “You’ll be able to’t concentrate on that. You have to concentrate on your self. And I do know you guys suppose it is cliché, however he is acquired to be the perfect model of him, and he is acquired to do every thing in his energy to verify he is aware of the expectations, the requirements which we have developed at that place. I do know he is working onerous.”
In the meantime, Gutekunst, in maybe an try to easy issues over with Rodgers, mentioned he can be open to taking the signal-caller’s enter on personnel strikes. Gutekunst acknowledged Thursday that he erred by not telling Rodgers that he was buying and selling as much as take Love in final yr’s draft.
“Fairly frankly, I believe over the previous three years that I have been doing this, I’ve at all times welcomed that enter,” Gutekunst mentioned. “I believe he has such an expertise on this league that that enter would at all times be one thing vitally necessary to me, if he is prepared to provide it. That is not new. That is not distinctive.”
Earlier Saturday, Yahoo Sports reported that Rodgers “stays adamant that he will not return to the staff beneath the present stewardship of common supervisor Brian Gutekunst,” in line with a supply in Rodgers’ camp.
“You already know, Aaron hasn’t mentioned something like that to me and definitely hasn’t mentioned something publicly,” Gutekunst mentioned in response to that report. “So, I believe it is a bit unfair to place that on him. However pay attention, you definitely do not like to listen to these issues; however on the identical time, it is sort of a part of the gig within the Nationwide Soccer League. However no, nothing’s been communicated on to me.”
LaFleur and Gutekunst each spoke Saturday on the draft’s conclusion. Earlier within the day, Murphy, in his month-to-month column on the Packers’ web site, mentioned the staff remains to be trying to work out the problems between Rodgers and administration.
“This is a matter that we now have been engaged on for a number of months,” Murphy wrote. “Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur and I’ve flown out on quite a few events to fulfill with Aaron. We’re very a lot conscious of Aaron’s considerations and have been working with him [and his agent, Dave Dunn] to resolve them. We stay dedicated to Aaron in 2021 and past.”