Mike Florio: Aaron Rodgers’ media appearances showcase ‘open disrespect of Mike McCarthy’

After Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers took to the postgame podium and initially sounded as if he were about to say something selfless.

"In a game like today where there wasn't a lot of flow to it, we need to be better, and it starts with me," Rodgers admitted in what seemed to be a rare moment of accountability.

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However, as he continued, he masterfully turned it into what might be the perfect summation of who Rodgers has become late in his career, on and off the field.

"…At like, making sure that Mike [McCarthy] knows what's working and what's not working," he continued. "The coaches know, so that we can call stuff that gives us a better chance."

Throwing his coaches under the bus in Week 2 is pretty much what you'd expect from Rodgers at this point. No one thinks they're smarter than everyone else or is better at painting themselves as an aggrieved victim of a system far beyond their control.

For Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, this presser is part of a larger pattern he's noticed this season involving Rodgers and his head coach. Specifically, how little respect the 42-year-old quarterback appears to have for McCarthy.

"It's only week 2, he's starting to tiptoe back toward the passive-aggressive comments, the likes of which spawned his quote about not wasting your time reading crap like that, because it was back in 2016, '17, right about there, when he was saying things like, There's no energy on the sideline," said Florio, referencing comments Rodgers made when he and McCarthy were both with the Green Bay Packers.

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"And I would say, well, who's responsible for that? Who's responsible for instilling energy? It's the head coach. So you're calling out your coach. There's not enough of a fear that you may lose your job if you don't do your job. Well, who's responsible for that? It's the head coach.

"He wants to be able to do the little drive-by with the criticism and then say, 'I'm just telling the truth, man. I'm just trying to help.'

"He's being a little passive-aggressive here about Mike McCarthy, and I'm not surprised it's starting early. Number one, they struggled yesterday. They looked awful yesterday. And number two, we've seen this coming: the open disrespect of Mike McCarthy between the McAfee appearance, where it was verbal diarrhea episode 1, the Cam Hayward podcast appearance, where it was verbal diarrhea episode 2, 3, and 4.

"I'm not surprised that we're at this point after 2 weeks."

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As Florio noted, Rodgers returned to The Pat McAfee Show this offseason after the Steelers, under former coach Mike Tomlin, told him they didn't want him making his weekly appearances. Rodgers returned this summer to take victory laps on Dr. Anthony Fauci and his many critics, amongst other things. He also appeared on teammate Cam Heyward's podcast and blasted ESPN and Dianna Russini while also misconstruing his relationship to people in the media.

All of which, when put together, seems to signal that Rodgers is off the chain once more. And the worse things get in Pittsburgh this season, the more he might push on the passive-aggressive press conference and conspiracy-theory podcast pushes.

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