Packers News: Were QB Aaron Rodgers And Coach Mike McCarthy Feuding During Green Bay's 2018 Season?

After an offseason in which it was largely assumed the Green Bay Packers would at least make the playoffs, if not contend for a championship, the team from Titletown is at home in January. Longtime head coach Mike McCarthy was fired during the season, and as everyone tries to figure out exactly what went wrong, one Packers player offered some insight.

Veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis spent the season in Green Bay and told Yahoo Sports’ “Mostly Football” that there was tension between McCarthy and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers throughout the season.

“I feel like Aaron had his own set of things that he wanted to do, then obviously McCarthy had his things that he wanted to do,” Lewis told Yahoo Sports. “I just think there was a little disfunction.”

Lewis referenced at least one incident in which Rodgers directly disobeyed a play-call from McCarthy. There have been rumors that Rodgers did that with some regularity while McCarthy was the head coach. While the 35-year-old quarterback had a statistically fine season, the Packers’ scoring offense was merely average. McCarthy ended up taking the fall for that.

Of course, the two men downplayed reports of tension when asked about it this season. McCarthy spoke highly of Rodgers around the time of his firing, saying he was impressive as both a quarterback and a person.

Rodgers, meanwhile, admitted that the two would “butt heads” from time to time, but also said the two of them had “amazing times” and “accomplished a lot” together.

Regardless of specifically how much tension existed between coach and quarterback in 2018, the Packers felt it was necessary to cut ties with McCarthy and find someone else to take advantage of Rodgers in his last good years. The team has been linked to several candidates, including Josh McDaniels and Adam Gase.