On Tuesday morning, the New York Jets decided to fire head coach Robert Saleh in what felt like a sudden and surprising decision. The news sparked speculation that Aaron Rodgers could have been behind the decision, but he firmly denied those allegations on Wednesday.
During his appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday afternoon, Aaron Rodgers called the allegations that he was involved in the decision to have Saleh fired “ridiculous” and “patently false.”
“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I’m not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it, and that is I resent any of those accusations because they’re patently false,” Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show according to Pro Football Talk. “It’s interesting the amount of power people think I have, which I don’t. But I love Robert.”
Rodgers went on to explain that he felt sympathy for Saleh and said he was a big reason why he decided to sign with the team in the firs tplace.
“Yesterday was a day that reminds you of the simple fact that all of us who play know too well, and that’s that it’s a tough business,” Rodgers told McAfee. “I love Coach Saleh, we have a very solid relationship, we have since I met him in 2021 and had a nice conversation when they came and visited us for joint practices. He was a big reason why I came to the Jets.”
Rodgers did confirm that Jets team owner Woody Johnson did call him on Monday night – the night before firing Saleh – but he claims he didn’t say anything about the decision to fire Saleh, nor did he really expect him to.
“Woody has no obligation to let me know what his plans are,” Rodgers said. “I just appreciate the call that he was checking on me. It was like a friend call.”
All in all, it’s a pretty firm response from Rodgers.
