A day after New York Giants outside linebacker Jihad Ward filled in the blanks regarding what people didn't see in the exchange between him and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as shown on HBO's Hard Knocks, Rodgers had a response.
Ward was upset with Jets receiver Randall Cobb's illegal blindside block on Giants safety Bobby McCain, a hit that left McCain concussed and for which Cobb was penalized. Ward, who's never been afraid to stand up for his teammates, expressed his displeasure with what he perceived to be the Jets laughing in the huddle after the play.
"Everybody going to get pissed off at that," he said Wednesday. "The whole team was pissed off. It's preseason and all that stuff, and you're going to do some reaction like that?”
After the play, Ward gave Rodgers a little shove which sparked a verbal back-and-forth between the two men, who were ultimately separated by a game official.
When Rodgers connected with receiver Garrett Wilson for a touchdown on the next play, he found Ward and told him, "Don't poke the bear."
Rodgers then was shown on the Jets sideline telling a teammate how he gave Ward a line that was "uncomebackable" (sic): "I don't know who you are," to which Ward allegedly said the same thing.
Rodgers then grinned at his teammate and said he told Ward, "Bull--."
Ward's side of the story made it back to Rodgers, who denied laughing at the hit that injured McCain, telling the New York Post, “So he thought we were laughing at his teammate? That never happened, and I think he’s making [stuff] up.”
The Giants host the Jets on October 29.
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