GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the next several months, much of the chatter surrounding the Green Bay Packers will be about a potential divorce with longtime quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but for free-agent wide receiver Allen Lazard, it’s less about Rodgers and more about his own future.
During a postgame scrum on Sunday night, the fifth-year wide receiver was asked about the likelihood of franchise star Aaron Rodgers returning to the Packers next season. Lazard, who responded with some expletives, gave a surprising and scathingly honest response to Green Bay beat reporters.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be at, I can’t worry about someone else,” Lazard said. “Going into the game, I kind of had a realization that my first game here and potentially my last game — which it is — was going to be against the Lions at home, so I took just a few minutes to kind of soak it all in.”
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Lazard, who led the Packers with 788 receiving yards on a team-best 60 catches, is an unrestricted free agent during the offseason. His 100 targets outpaced any other playmaker in Green Bay this season, logging 28 more targets than the next man on the list, running back Aaron Jones.
It wasn’t all negative for the 27-year-old wideout, who reflected on his experience with the Packers as an opportunity for personal and professional growth.
“[I’m] thankful for this opportunity and this experience to be here for four-plus years now. Just to see the growth that I’ve made, not only on the field but more so off the field — be coming into my own — and I feel like a lot of times throughout my career, especially early on, it could’ve gone a lot differently, but I’m still here now and I’m just thankful for that.”
Lazard’s role came into question around the same time that Packers rookie Christian Watson began his mid-season emergence.
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