Former Packers lineman T.J Lang softens comments that Aaron Rodgers 'hellbent on revenge'

Former Green Bay Packers guard T.J. Lang appeared Tuesday on the "Pat McAfee Show" and toned down comments that Aaron Rodgers would be "hellbent on some revenge" toward the Packers after Green Bay drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.

"That was probably a little strong to say; I don't think he's going to be hellbent on revenge per se," Lang said.

Lang, who spent eight years in Green Bay and was a member of the Packers' 2010 Super Bowl champion team and later played with the Detroit Lions, made the comments initially on WXYT's "The Ticket" in Detroit on Monday. 

"I think he was quietly pissed when they took Jordan Love a year ago," Lang told WXYT. "The one thing I'll say about Aaron Rodgers, pretty much the last 10 years of his career he's wanted that team to just go all-in for one year. 'Just give me some pieces, let's just go all-in, let's trade a future first, if we have to, to get a couple guys. Let's just go all-in and try to win this thing. ... I think he's gonna make them pay, man."

On Tuesday, Lang reiterated some of the sentiments but with a softer framing.

"When you're doing a more serious show, they take it in a more serious manner," Lang said on the McAfee show. "I should have known that; that was my bad."

"I'm not saying (drafting Love) drove everything, (that) it was his complete motivation," Lang said. "But then he goes out this year, has the season that he has, 48 touchdowns, MVP year. ... I don't think he's going to go anywhere, but I think he understands that he has a leverage right now to say, 'You know what? If I'm going to be here for, let's say another two years, you're going to guarantee my two years and you're going to do something like what Tom Brady did in Tampa Bay. You're going to go get me a couple extra players. I've got to win another Super Bowl before I move on from Green Bay.'"

Lang also reiterated that drafting Love before the season was "a little bit of a slap in the face."

"I kinda think that was some sort of public humiliation almost," he said. "Not on purpose, but if you're him, how else to take that?"

After Green Bay's loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC championship game, Rodgers raised red flags among fans when he intimated that it could have been his last year in Green Bay. Rodgers and other members of the Packers organization have since played down that possibility, with Rodgers indicating that he was speaking more to the uncertain realities of pro football. 

Rodgers, a regular guest on the McAfee show who expressed his appreciation for the laid-back format last week, indicated he anticipated being back but also sidestepped a question on whether he'd employ leverage for a different contract situation. He's under contract through 2023.

"I think, in general, that's a weird way to look at it," Rodgers said. "You start talking about leverage and different things, like, I don't know. The only leverage I feel like I have is the way I play, and that speaks for itself."

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.