Given their long and fruitful history together, you just know that Mike MacCarthy was heartbroken when he saw Aaron Rodgers go down with what turned out to be a season-ending injury. This pair had a very successful run together with the Green Bay Packers, which included a Super Bowl title in 2010.
McCarthy, who is currently the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, has now shared his painfully honest reaction to Rodgers and his career-threatening Achilles injury.
Mike McCarthy Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Injury
The Jets and the Cowboys are set to face off in Week 2 and it should have been a reunion of sorts between Rodgers and McCarthy. Unfortunately, these unexpected turn of events have led to the veteran coach ruing the missed opportunity to face his former superstar quarterback.
McCarthy looked back on a specific incident involving Rodgers — one that Packers fans remember all too well:
“You were hoping it wasn’t serious,” McCarthy said of the injury, via Nick Harris of the Cowboys’ official website. “It kinda reminded me of a play in 2018 against the Bears early in the game he went in, told me on the headset he was done for the year. He had a fracture in his knee joint. And he came out at halftime and threw three touchdowns and won the game and played the rest of the year. That’s what I was hoping was going to happen.”
Sadly, this just was not the case on Sunday night.
Mike McCarthy Has Reached out to Aaron Rodgers
Based on McCarthy’s reaction, you just know that the Cowboys coach is hurting for Rodgers. He’s already reached out to the four-time NFL MVP, and you can be sure that that must have been a painful conversation to have.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely reached out to him,” McCarthy said. “It’s great to compete against people you care about. Him and I have been through a lot together. I have a tremendous amount of love for him. This is tough. I know he was very excited about this chapter in his life, and I was looking forward to seeing him this weekend.”
Life goes on, though, and for McCarthy and the Cowboys, they now face the prospect of facing an Aaron Rodgers-less Jets side on Sunday. Zach Wilson returns to the helm for New York, and McCarthy has nothing but good things to say about the young quarterback:
“I thought [Wilson] went in and obviously did a nice job,” he said. “This is a very good football team. They have weapons in all three phases. The energy, the division game, the Monday night, I was impressed with their team.”
Mike McCarthy did admit that he’s feeling a bit let down by the fact that Rodgers won’t be on the field on Sunday but at the same time, this changes nothing in terms of Dallas’ mindset against the Jets:
“I mean, that’s only natural to want to play against a great player,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we need to get to 2-0. Our focus has been good today. That’s what we’re looking at.”
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