Aaron Rodgers responded to the boos that Green Bay Packers fans rained down on the team as they lost on Thursday Night Football.
If the Green Bay Packers were to have won on Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans, they would have improved their chances of making the playoffs to 20 percent, 1-in-5. Instead, they dropped all the way down to about five percent according to FiveThirtyEight’s model.
The Packers left the field on Thursday showered by boos from fans in Wisconsin. In the opinion of this writer, it’s entirely fair. The team, which has fallen to 4-7, has hit a near-low point in this century. They’re on pace for their worst winning percentage since 2005.
Making the playoffs would be a miracle at this point. The Packers haven’t missed the postseason since 2018, and the team has only missed out on qualifying for the postseason three times since 2007.
Much has been made about Rodgers and his future, so fans are holding onto every last word he says. So what did he think of the boos?
Aaron Rodgers replies to Packers fans booing the team
As told by Grant Gordon of NFL.com, Rodgers had this to say about the boos on Thursday:
“Interesting,” Rodgers said of the boos. “That’s the best I can give you.”
“Interesting.” Hm, well, that is an interesting response to be sure. It’s surely strategic, the word is not necessarily positive or negative in this context, leaving it open to interpretation.
Rodgers, known for his “R-E-L-A-X” statement, probably thinks the crowd reaction is a bit of an overreaction, but at the same time also knows the sentiment from fans is deserved. The team has not played well and certainly has not even come close to expectations.
That said, who knows if he’d take responsibility for the boos, and frankly, maybe he shouldn’t have to. After trading Davante Adams this offseason, the Packers did not backfill his role on the team, leaving a massive hole in the receiving corps, making Rodgers’ life extremely difficult. It looked like the Pack found a solution against the Cowboys, but that seems to have fallen through. The Packers didn’t make a move at the deadline and haven’t been aggressive in pursuing free agent options like Odell Beckham Jr.
The play-calling strategy has been suspect at times, too, with the team outright refusing to give Aaron Jones the ball at certain points.
Still, the boos in Green Bay serve as a moment we’ll attach to the 2022 Packers to remember them.