At a time when plenty of former and current Packers players seem to know a little something about what’s going on with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back Aaron Jones doesn’t know anything -- and he doesn’t want to.
“I’m just sitting back,” Jones told Rich Eisen on Thursday. “I mean, I see what everybody else sees. I mean, I haven’t heard from Aaron or anybody, so I’m gonna wait until I get up to Green Bay and see for myself or hear it from him myself. I don’t get caught up in reading the articles and things like that. I just wait until it plays out and control what I can control.”
How much is Jones getting questions like this from people he knows? “A lot,” he said. “A lot.”
Asked whether Jones believes Rodgers will be the quarterback when the Packers play the Saints in Week One, Jones said, “I hope so. That’s my quarterback. That’s our quarterback. So I would hope. That’s all I can think. I hope he’s our quarterback. Hope he’s there Week One, handing it off and it all works out.”
It all remains to be seen. And it will continue to be a question for Jones and every other teammate, publicly and privately, from now until the situation is resolved, and perhaps beyond.
Isn’t this precisely the reason why teams don’t want players who bring so-called “distractions” to the locker room? As a given coach will say, “We don’t want our players to constantly be asked questions about a situation involving one of their teammates.”
Of course, when it’s Aaron Rodgers, a team happily will tolerate that and any other type of distraction. But even if the team isn’t troubled by the players having to answer questions for Rodgers, who won’t walk, at some point players like Jones may grow weary of constantly having to speak about a guy who refuses to speak for himself.