Sean Payton expects better from Aaron Rodgers.
Payton, the former longtime head coach of the Saints who now serves as a Fox NFL analyst, expressed his displeasure with Rodger’s body language and comments during and after the Packers’ Week 1 loss to the Vikings.
“It’s driving me crazy,” Payton said said on the “NFL Rhodes Show”. “It makes me crazy.”
Rodgers was particularly critical of the team’s young reception group, which lost Davante Adams when the Packers traded him to the Raiders in a blockbuster this offseason. During the preseason, Rodgers said, “The young guys, especially the young receivers, we have to be a lot more consistent. Many falls, many wrong route decisions, drove the wrong route. We have to get better in this area.”
That sentiment has now carried over into the regular season, where rookie receiver Christian Watson dropped an easy, wide-open wannabe touchdown from 75 yards early in the loss.
“There will be growing pains,” Rodgers said after the game. “It’s real football, that’s what counts. It’s different, there are nerves. … We have to make these games.”
Sean Payton, Aaron Rodgers USA TODAY Sports (2)
Those comments rubbed Payton the wrong way, who would have preferred Rodgers to take responsibility rather than pinning the blame on rookies and young players.
“After the game we go to the locker room for the interview and the very first question Aaron was asked was how to rebound and he was referring to the first play of the game, a rookie’s dropped pass,” Payton said. “And I was like, ‘Come on.’ I like Aaron Rodgers, but I didn’t like what I saw.”