Mike McCarthy’s tone was much different this time, when someone asked him whether the Packers were interested in adding a veteran quarterback.
After reports the team was interested in veteran Brian Hoyer before he signed with the Patriots, McCarthy was asked about that in relation to his previous (and thunderous) declaration that they weren’t looking at Colin Kaepernick or any other veteran after Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone.
Essentially, McCarthy’s stance Thursday was that the team’s personnel department may have made a call on Hoyer or others, but he didn’t know about it.
“From the time Aaron’s been injured I’ve never once been involved in a conversation about bringing in a veteran quarterback,” McCarthy said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “From the Minnesota to here today, the direction that we’re going with the quarterbacks is Brett Hundley and the guys we have here.”
But he also acknowledged other calls were probably made, couching them as “Yeah, those guys [in personnel] are doing their job.”
While the emotion that came with the Kaepernick question was something you wouldn’t suspect, the reality that a personnel department is looking at options seems reasonable. It’s what they do. Or at least it’s what a qualified personnel department does when there are issues at the most important position on the field.