For a guy who has caught passes from three quarterbacks in six weeks (none of them particularly good), it would be natural for Greg Jennings to feel a little nostalgiac this week.
But the Vikings wide receiver said he wanted to move on after a summer spent making pointed comments about the Packers, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers in particular.
For his part, Rodgers said he wasn’t worried about it months ago, which may be equally unlikely to the line Jennings was selling.
But in a conference call with reporters today, Jennings tried to distance himself from the remarks.
“That’s behind me but at the same time I have the utmost respect for that organization,” Jennings said, via Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com, presumably while doing the backstroke. “I was just really razzing a little bit with Aaron, just knowing how he is and just going back and forth with some of the guys. It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. It was just really messing around initially and then everyone kind of blew it a little bit out of proportion.
“I have the most respect for that organization. I had my most successful years there and I still have relations with some of the guys over there and still have the respect that I had when I was playing there with them. Even when I’m not right now I still have respect for them.”
Jennings said he has not spoken with Rodgers since the incident, and when asked if he wishes he was still catching passes from his former teammate, Jennings replied: “No, man, God has blessed me to move on from that. I’ve embraced my situation and my role here and my teammates here.”
What he embraced was a chance to get paid in the open market, which is fine. What he should not expect is for anyone to simply forget the remarks he made, and pretend they never happened.