Philadelphia Eagles

Why Aaron Rodgers Wanted to Chat With Carson Wentz After Sunday's Benching

Why Aaron Rodgers wanted to chat with Carson Wentz after Sunday’s game originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

As the CBS credits rolled after the Packers’ 30-16 win over the Eagles on Sunday, the final shot on the broadcast was of Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz sharing a conversation near midfield.

Rodgers, 37, is in the middle of one of the best seasons of a Hall of Fame career. He might be the MVP. Wentz, 27, had just gotten benched in the 12th game of an awful and equally surprising campaign.

Rodgers, on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, didn’t want to divulge the full content of his talk to Wentz but did say he offered a message of encouragement.

“I don’t want to talk about what I said to Carson,” Rodgers said. “I feel like there’s some things that really just need to stay (private) … even with this show, how much I love to divulge on this show. I’ve been meaning to talk to him for a while and I’m glad I got the opportunity to say some things to him because I’ve always respected his game and been a fan of his game. I think he has a really unique skillset.

“Obviously, this hasn’t been a really great year there in Philly. I think there’s a lot of factors around him that contribute to that. I felt like it was a good, quick conversation and definitely wish him the best the rest of the year because I’ve been a fan of his since he got in the league and he’s had some tough circumstances over his few years in the league. I hope things work out for him whether it’s there or somewhere else.”

Before chatting with Wentz after the game, Rodgers caught up with his friend Alex Singleton, said hello to Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham and even spent some time talking to Jalen Hurts, who replaced Wentz against the Packers and will start over him against the Saints this coming Sunday.

Rodgers said he enjoyed watching Hurts in college and, like many others, respects the way Hurts handled his own benching while at Alabama. When Rodgers and Hurts met after the game, Rodgers said Hurts did most of the talking and Rodgers was appreciative of the “respect that he showed me.”

“I did more of the talking with Carson just because I had a message that I wanted to share with him,” Rodgers said. “And hopefully encourage him a little bit.”

Doug Pederson on Monday night informed Wentz and Hurts of his decision to start Hurts against the Saints. It came to that after watching Wentz struggle in his 12 starts this year, which eventually led to Wentz’s benching in Green Bay.

So maybe Rodgers’ words of encouragement came at the exact right time.

Rodgers said that he knew he wasn’t mic’d up for the game and even did a quick check around him to make sure it truly was a private moment between the two quarterbacks near midfield.

“I think there’s some conversation though that you do appreciate having be private and that was one of them that I just wanted to share between Carson and I,” Rodgers said. “If he chooses to talk about it, I have no problem with it. But that’s one that I think will probably remain between us.”

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