Aaron Rodgers was his normal lighthearted self as he spoke with reporters on Tuesday. This came on the heels of a report by Yahoo Sports correspondent Charles Robinson saying Rodgers was frustrated with not being included in personnel decisions. The Packers quarterback made it clear these reports were ill-informed and contained no real merit.

“Again, I know my role, and that’s to play quarterback the best that I can. The team is going to try to put the right guys in place — the right coaches in place, the right players in place. You just have to trust the process as we’ve talked about over the years. This process works, and it has worked for Mike for a number of years. Obviously, that’s why he’s still here in his 13th season. We’ve had a lot of success here, and you’ve got to trust the process.”

Rodgers did admit it’s not fun losing close friends who you want to continue playing with. He mentioned James Jones, John Kuhn, and Julius Peppers as personal relationships that took a hit after they were let go by Green Bay. Rodgers cherishes his relationships not only with players but coaches as well. He called the decision to fire his former QB coach Alex Van Pelt “interesting.” However, he knew coming into the league back in 2005 that having success as a franchise QB had its downfalls.

“As you get older, I knew this as a young player, the possibility to find success and play a long time- I’d probably outlive a lot of close friends in this business because the longevity offered to a quarterback is obviously greater than a guy whose banging heads all the time or running all over the field.”

The loss of Jordy Nelson clearly hurt Rodgers. He didn’t just lose his go-to receiver, but also a close friend in the locker room. Nelson himself called Rodgers to let him know he was being released.

“It was bittersweet talking to Jordy on a drive to my workout and finding out later in the day we were signing Jimmy (Graham). Again, you lose a close friend you’ve had success with and gain another guy that you’ve been friends with.”

Having Graham and his old offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin back with the Packers will help in the healing process. Rodgers is the consummate professional who is one of the most self aware athletes on the planet.

It’s expected his return to Green Bay this week probably brought back some emotions when Van Pelt and Nelson weren’t there to greet him. But, his comments make it clear there isn’t anything further to look. Once Rodgers gets back on the field doing what he loves all will be right again.

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Brandon Carwile was a Cheesehead at birth. His dad grew up attending games at Lambeau and passed on the legacy. He has covered the Packers for over five years and currently works with packerstalk.com. Find him on twitter at @PackerScribe.

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