Aaron Rodgers spent an entire interview blasting the Packers but Green Back OT David Bakhtiari appeared to shade his former QB as a response.
While Aaron Rodgers is on to his NFL rebound, the New York Jets, it appears he might still be having a bit of trouble getting over his ex.
That ex, of course, is the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him and that the quarterback led to a Super Bowl and nearly two decades worth of immense success. But in an in-depth interview with The Athletic (subscription required) released on Wednesday, Rodgers unloaded on the Packers front office and not painting Green Bay or the front office in a kind light.
So with that context, Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari had this to say regarding his presence at OTAs, his contract, and so on, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic:
"Whatever the team needs for me to be. They want me to yell and scream at 'em, I'll yell and scream. They want me to shut the f**k up, I'm gonna shut the f**k up. I just wanna win. I've been around the block enough times and I want to win."
David Bakhtiari appears to shade Aaron Rodgers after Packers criticism
It's hard not to see those comments in the context of it being the same day that the Rodgers interview and the report that the quarterback tried to get Packers GM Brian Gutekunst fired after the 2021 season and not believe that Bakhtiari's comments were at least somewhat in response to that and a bit of shade being thrown at the new Jets signal-caller.
There is, of course, the chance that Bakhtiari was simply speaking on him showing up to offseason workouts, doing his job, and trying to help the new-look offense succeed in order to help the team win. That type of strong comment, though, doesn't feel distanced from Rodgers' criticism, especially that team first mentality that Rodgers seemed to completely ignore in his interview.
Bakhtiari and Rodgers, of course, became friends in Green Bay and were seen together off of the football field together many times. However, when it comes to the Packers, there's at least a good chance that the veteran lineman didn't take to kindly to what his friend had to say, thus leading to the charged potential response.
