During their final preseason game against the New York Jets last Saturday night, New York Giants linebacker Jihad Ward exchanged a few words with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The back-and-forth jawing appeared to begin after Ward shoved Rodgers late, which the veteran quarterback took exception to.
Buy Giants TicketsAfter the game, Ward was uncharacteristically mum when asked about the exchange. Rodgers also refused to comment, telling reporters they’d have to wait for the next episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks to see what happened.
The episode did not disappoint and showed the exchange between Rodgers and Ward . . . kind of.
.@AaronRodgers12 said there would be some good trash talk in Hard Knocks.
He was right. pic.twitter.com/zaCX5fEglf
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 30, 2023
The clip makes it appear as if Ward was in the wrong but as it turns out, there was much more to the entire situation that cameras didn’t catch (or producers simply chose not to air).
Following practice on Wednesday, Ward opened up about exactly what happened, what he thinks of Rodgers, and why he bumped the quarterback late to begin with.
As it turns out, Ward was responding to a cheap shot from Jets wide receiver Randall Cobb that left Giants safety Bobby McCain concussed. The undeniably illegal hit drew a flag. It also drew a laugh from Rodgers, who apparently found amusement in McCain’s serious injury.
“There’s a reason why I acted like that (in) the first place,” Ward told the New York Daily News. “There’s a reason why I shoved him like I did. The reason why is because I don’t let none of my mother (expletive) teammates get knocked over, you know what I’m saying?”
Ward called Cobb’s illegal hit, “sucker (expletive).”
“And Randall — what’s his name, Randall Cobb? — he knew what he did,” Ward continued. “That was some cheap (expletive). But it’s like, if I see anything on the field, I gotta do what I gotta do. This ain’t no rah-rah this, that and a third. I don’t do all this internet stuff. I’m gonna let them have it.
“That was some sucker (expletive) that Randall Cobb and Aaron Rodgers did. And I’m stamping on that. I ain’t hiding from nothing. So you could laugh now, cry later … They know what they did, and they (were) laughing and all that stuff. And I was the only one that was sticking up for (McCain).”
As far as Rodgers demanding respect from Ward, the veteran linebacker isn’t having it.
“I don’t praise no man,” Ward said. “I don’t be on the field . . . on some ‘Like Mike’ stuff like ‘Hey, oh my God, it’s Aaron’ — I don’t care about none of that. I don’t care who you [are]. When you’re on that field, you have no respect. So it is what it is. You don’t gotta know me. That’s fine.”
McCain told reporters he appreciates Ward standing up for him but both agreed it’s on to Dallas. They’ll worry about Rodgers and the little brother Jets come Week 8.
