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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has admitted that his relationship with general manager Brian Gutekunst is a work in progress. After the 2020 season ended, reports surfaced of Rodgers being unhappy with the Packers organization, specifially general manager Gutekunst.
However, the Packers managed to keep Rodgers for at least next season. "Relationships aren't formed in a matter of a couple days," Rodgers said on Wednesday of Gutekunst, who has been the GM since 2018 and on the Packers scouting staff since 1998.
"There's time where the respect grows and the communication follows. I think the greatest relationships that you have with your friends and loved ones involved conversation and flow. You can not talk to a close friend for a few months and pick up right where you left off.
There's no break in communication, there's no forced conversations or you've got to hit this person up because it's on your to-do list that day. "It's all about wanting to have those conversations and wanting to be in conversation like that, and we've had a couple conversations and they've been positive conversations."
Rodgers being there for Jordan Love
While Rodgers was out, Love served as quarterback No.
1. "And then I just reached out; I reached out a number of times [to] check on him [and] see how he's doing," Rodgers said. "I didn't hold things from him. I let him know where I was at mentally and what I was thinking about.
And hopefully he appreciated that. "I just felt that's what I would want in that situation, just to hear from the guy. And also, there's a love and an appreciation and a friendship there, just like it was with me and Brett. So I wanted to make sure I checked in with him and let him know I was thinking about him." The Packers used their first round pick in the 2020 NFL draft to select Love and he is expected to one day replace Rodgers.
"I have a lot of respect and love for Jordan, and I understand it's got to be tough what he went through," Rodgers said. "I went through it for two years in the offseason, going in '06 and '07, I was the guy the entire offseason, going through quarterback school, going through most of the OTAs, taking all the reps, and then here comes Favrey coming back -- and obviously I'm back on the bench.
Thankfully I went through that, and I can understand a little bit about what he's going through, so I just try to keep that in mind the entire time."