Tension reportedly growing between Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy in Green Bay
It’s no secret that things haven’t been going well in Green Bay this season.
The Packers boast just a 4-6-1 record so far this year, and have lost five of their last seven games. Green Bay has simply struggled to get much of anything going, and are set to miss the playoffs for the second-straight season, barring a miraculous late-season turnaround and a significant amount of help from the rest of the league.
While there are a number of issues one can point to when looking at the Packers’ struggles this fall, one of the biggest — and perhaps most surprising — comes from quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy.
Rodgers and McCarthy once had a great relationship — or at least appeared to. The duo have reached the playoffs eight times together in Green Bay, and even won a Super Bowl in 2011. They have long held one of the league’s top offenses thanks largely to Rodgers, who has proven himself to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL time and time again.
That relationship, though, seems to be rapidly deteriorating.
A lengthy Sports Illustrated feature from Kalyn Kahler on Thursday detailed the struggles in “Packerland,” and painted a feud between the quarterback and coach that appears to be growing by the week.
McCarthy, like Rodgers, is an alpha male. When people familiar with the two were asked to describe their relationship, most say it is defined by tension. Until this year, it was a healthy tension that lifted both quarterback and coach. In 2018, something has been different.
McCarthy is the play caller, but because Rodgers is so intelligent and such a good improvisational player, the quarterback has the green light to change plays on the field as he see fit. He does, so often that it can be hard for McCarthy to get into a rhythm as the play caller. McCarthy might call the same play three times in a game, without the play actually being run as he called it. And if McCarthy calls a play that Rodgers doesn’t like early in the game, that can sour the mood for the rest of the game. Several sources familiar with the inner workings of the organization say that it devolved into a competition over who can call the better play, and both want the credit when things go right.
Now, Rodgers isn’t having a bad year statistically. He’s completed more than 61 percent of his passes for 3,271 yards and thrown 20 touchdowns this season, all while throwing just one interception. Those certainly aren’t his best numbers, but they aren’t bad by any means.
While Rodgers has one of the best football minds among active players in the NFL, it would still be tremendously hard to run an offense when the quarterback and head coach are never on the same page and are constantly trying to one-up the other.
If things keep trending the way they are currently in Green Bay — and the tension between them is as bad as it appears — it’s starting to look like the McCarthy-Rodgers partnership won’t be around for much longer.
In reality, it could be around for just a few more weeks.
Subscribe to The Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast
Apple Podcasts• Stitcher • Google Podcasts
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Curry writes perfect response to little girl’s letter
• Redskins VP: Foster’s allegations are ‘small potatoes’
• Hall of Famer says he’s ‘with’ Kaepernick, takes jab at Trump
• Why Bucs’ plan to give away tickets might be brilliant
