If Mike McCarthy has 99 problems, Greg Jennings is not one of them. The former Green Bay Packers wide receiver has taken some digs at his long-time team since signing with the Minnesota Vikings in the offseason. McCarthy believes the only person to blame for the numerous jabs is the Minnesota Vikings.
"You know, when you put on that purple, something happens to you," McCarthy said during training camp.
Jennings has taken several shots at the Packers since departing over the summer. He first referred to the Packers team as "cookie cutter" saying he enjoyed the structure of the Minnesota Vikings much better. He believes his new team allows him to be more like himself and run things the way he likes to. He also slammed Aaron Rodgers as not being the best teammate.
"A lot of times when you have a guy who creates that spotlight for himself and establishes that and takes a lot of that, it becomes so-and-so and the team. It should always be the team," Jennings said to the Minnesota Star Tribune. "For me, I'm such a team person, I'm going to defer to my teammates. I'm going to defer to the team, to the team, to the team. And I think when you reach a point where you're not deferring any longer, it's no longer really about the team."
Possibly realizing what he had just said, Jennings made sure to clarify that Rodgers is a great person. However, he does continue on to say that while the media continues to tell the players that they are perfect, they stop seeing their flaws. Rodgers have not yet responded to Jennings off-hand remarks as he will not be available to media until Friday. However, McCarthy shot down the idea Rodgers was a bad teammate.
"He obviously puts a lot of time and energy into it, and it's really reflected in the little things that no one really sees," McCarthy said. "To me, that's really the definition of a true leader, the ability to stack the individual moments with individuals throughout not only the locker room but throughout the building -- particularly in the football operations department. I just think it's really an outstanding role of going about it."
Rodgers has always appeared to be a great teammate and a great representation of the NFL, but maybe Jennings knows something everyone else does not. If anything, the war of words will make for a great reunion between the two parties during the season.
