Greg Jennings' non-stop comments about Aaron Rodgers is one of the strangest, if overblown, stories of the offseason.
At first, it felt like an awkward running joke. Then we realized Jennings truly had some issues with Rodgers' leadership style. Comments made by former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver on ESPN Radio on Thursday morning shed some interesting light on the topic.
"We've always said that the quarterback is the one that needs to take the pressure off everyone else," Driver said, via ESPN.com. "If a guy runs the wrong route, it's easy for the quarterback to say, 'Hey, I told him to run that route' than for the guy to be like, 'Well, I ran the wrong route.'
"Sometimes you ask Aaron to take the pressure off the guys so we won't look bad, but he didn't want to do that. He felt like if you did something bad, you do it. But I think that's the difference. You want that leadership, and I think sometimes you may not feel like you got it. You have to earn that respect at the end of the day, and I think that's what Greg was probably referring to."
Rodgers spoke with TheMMQB.com on Thursday about Jennings' endless comments.
"People taking shots at me who aren't relevant to this team and to this locker room doesn't mean a whole lot to me," Rodgers said. "Those comments do wash over with me without a reaction, because they don't matter."
Driver went on to say Rodgers is a "great guy" and a friend, but his comments tell us something about the relationship between the Packers' receivers and their quarterback. Everyone on a football team doesn't have to be best buddies. There is no right or wrong here. Every quarterback, every pro athlete has an ego. Still, it's fair to say Driver's comments show there were some disagreements about Rodgers' leadership style.
"I saw when he first got drafted, he came in with a chip on his shoulder, saying that he should have been the first pick in that draft, that it shouldn't have been Alex Smith," Driver relayed. "But that's the way the guy is, and I think the thing is, I've always told Aaron this, 'Don't forget where you come from because the people are the ones who put you on that pedestal. You didn't put yourself there.' And I think that's what he's learning now.
"I'm not saying Aaron is a bad guy. I think he's a great guy. I'm friends with Aaron, and we have a great relationship. But outside of that, he's going to play the game the way he's always played it."
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