The Green Bay Packers parted with former head coach Mike McCarthy after Sunday’s stunning loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The word around town is lack of accountability. Some are saying McCarthy’s message grew stale. But on Thursday, quarterback Aaron Rodgers shut down the idea of his former coach not holding players accountable.
“There’s always a great deal of accountability under Mike’s program for the last 13 years,” Rodgers told PackersNews.com’s Ryan Wood.
People are pointing fingers at Rodgers specifically when it comes to the firing. His production is down, for starters. But more than that, there appears to have been a disconnect over the past couple seasons. For what it’s worth, though, Rodgers doesn’t feel that way in the slightest.
“I used to always tell him, I said, ‘Hey, if you need to call on somebody in the meeting to let everybody know we’re all on equal playing field, call on me first. Call me out.’ Just so everybody knows nobody is off-limits, we’re holding everybody to the same standard. And I feel that’s the way it always was.”
Accountability has been a hot-stove topic within the Packers organization. Earlier this week, assistant coach Winston Moss was terminated when he tweeted out that Rodgers and other players weren’t held accountable for the way the season has played out.
For now, interim head coach Joe Philbin is set to finish the season. This week, their focus turns towards the Atlanta Falcons at home. As it turns out, the Falcons are also struggling. They’re 4-8 and have lost four in a row. Which struggling team will come out on top this Sunday afternoon?
Heck, which team wants to?