Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers feels he has seen it all, and has heard enough, when it comes to his former head coaches coming under fire lately.
“This league has changed a lot in my 21 years,” Rodgers told reporters on Monday after a 30–6 loss to the Houston Texans. “When you hear conversations about the Mike Tomlins of the world or the Matt LaFleurs of the world, those are two guys I played for.”
Rodgers played for Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, which ended for the Steelers with their Wild Card playoff exit against the Texans. Before Pittsburgh and a brief stint with the New York Jets, Rodgers enjoyed success with LaFleur in Green Bay for four seasons. He was traded to the Jets in 2023. That wasn’t the prettiest of splits, as it involved the Packers drafting quarterback Jordan Love with a first-round pick in 2020.
LaFleur has been on the hot seat of late with the Packers following a recent blown lead and Wild Card loss to the Chicago Bears, 31–27.
“When I first got in the league, there wouldn’t even be a conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat,” Rodgers said. “But the way the league is covered now, with snap decisions and the validity given to Twitter experts and all the experts on TV who make it seem like they know what they’re talking about, to me that’s an absolute joke.
“For either of those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we’re at as a society and as a league,” Rodgers added. “Obviously, Matt’s done a lot of great things in Green Bay, and we had a lot of success. Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19 or 20 years.
“More than that, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change,” Rodgers said. “There’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside, and obviously that sways decisions from time to time, but it’s not how I would do things, and it’s not how the league used to be.”
Tomlin stepped down after 19 seasons with the team, where he earned a 193–114 record, a Super Bowl win in 2008, and another Super Bowl appearance in 2010. All of his teams finished .500 or better every season of his career in Pittsburgh.
“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said. “I’m disappointed. It was such a fun year. Obviously, a lot of adversity, but a lot of fun.”
Rodgers completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns versus seven interceptions for a 94.8 quarterback rating. Overall, the four-time MVP and 10-time Pro Bowler has 66,274 yards passing for 527 touchdowns in his career.
“I was fortunate to play in an incredible football city for 18 years,” Rodgers said about his time in Green Bay. “I never took it for granted. I enjoyed that time there and this has been a really beautiful backend to that first 18.
“There’s only a few really special places in the league that have the tradition and the town and the organization, and I’m thankful to have played for two of them.”
LaFleur said, “I’m speechless” in response to Rodgers’ comments via text with The Athletic on Tuesday.
“He didn’t have to do that, but he did,” LaFleur told The Athletic. “[It’s] one of the nicest compliments [of] my life. I’m so appreciative of him for that.”
LaFleur is set to continue as the Packers head coach for 2026, although he anticipates changes on the coaching staff.
“That’s all the stuff that we’re focused on right now,” LaFleur told reporters on Sunday. “Just going through everything, having the conversations with all our coaches, and then we’ll determine all that.”
