The Green Bay Packers probably had the worst start to the 2021 NFL season of any team. QB Aaron Rodgers had perhaps his worst performance in recent memory after a tumultuous offseason and entered Week 1 vs. the New Orleans Saints in “not-so-game-ready” shape.
After the 38-3 L on Sunday afternoon, Rodgers went on The Pat McAfee show for his usual Tuesday interview spot and shed some light on the performance. He doesn’t like making excuses, but claims the first INT against NOLA was because of an unfortunate shot to the pills:
Aaron Rodgers to @PatMcAfeeShow on his first INT on Sunday: "For those of you who went back and watched it... I don't like to make a lot of excuses for interceptions... That was entirely due to the double nut shot I took."
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 14, 2021
Rodgers is referring to the INT in the red zone with the Packers trailing 17-3 in the third quarter with a chance to get back into the game. It was a very unconventional play from A-Rod, who has one of the best TD-INT ratios in NFL history. The shot to the mid-section clearly impacted him before the errant throw which led to the Saints eventual rout. Here’s a video of the play. It’s tough to tell if Rodgers was actually hit in traffic there.
Pick off the NFL MVP in your first NFL game @AdeboPaulson_ #GBvsNO | : FOX pic.twitter.com/zKEYId7kVQ
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 12, 2021
Sure, Aaron, make excuses for the miserable red zone INT. What about the plethora of incomplete passes and missed WRs? How about the second INT that was probably one of the worst of your career? Maybe before holding out for the entire offseason and not playing in the preseason you don’t go on a radio show to make a joke about a mistake you made that cost the Packers the game in Week 1. I’m not a mad Packers fan or anything though, nope, totally fine. Keep going on my boy Pat McAfee’s (Mountaineer great) show each week and forget about the task at hand.