Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since the the team fired coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday morning.
Ever since the move, there has been rife speculation on social media that Rodgers was behind the team’s decision to move on from Saleh. But Rodgers pointedly denied any advance knowledge of or influence over the decision during his weekly paid appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I’m not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it,” Rodgers said. “And that is that I resent any of those allegations, because they’re badly false.”
Rodgers actually added a few more sentences, chiding those who paint him as the puppet master behind the Jets’ decisions.
“It’s interesting the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don’t,” Rodgers said. “But I love Robert and it was one of those days [Tuesday].”
Saleh spent the first few minutes of his appearance imploring those “championing” Saleh’s firing to focus on the human element of Saleh’s dismissal.
“I love coach Saleh,” Rodgers said, “We have a really solid relationship. We have since I met him in 2021 [when the Jets had a joint practice in Green Bay]. … He was a big reason I came to the Jets.”
After the Jets fired Saleh, owner Woody Johnson said Rodgers had no input on the decision and he didn’t discuss his intentions with his quarterback.
Johnson said he consulted with with general manger Joe Douglas, but in the end the process was simple.
“It was this was my decision,” Johnson said. “And my decision alone.”
Rodgers acknowledged what Johnson revealed Tuesday: that the two had a discussion Monday night, just hours before Saleh was fired. But Rodgers said it was a five-minute conversation in which Johnson called to check on how Rodgers was doing after suffering an ankle sprain in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings in London.
But he said that Saleh’s fate never came up.
“Woody has no obligation to let me know what his plans are,” Rodgers said.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at [email protected].
