Oct. 16 (UPI) — Green Bay Packers running back Jamaal Williams provided some trash talk for six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady ahead of his team’s matchup with Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in Tampa, Fla.
Williams was asked if Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a better quarterback than Brady on The Jamaal Williams Show this week on YouTube.
He offered support for his quarterback before he jabbed Brady for his Week 5 performance, when the future Hall of Fame quarterback appeared to forget what down it was during a loss to the Chicago Bears. Brady failed to convert on a fourth down during the sequence, which ended the game.
TV cameras then spotted the Buccaneers quarterback as he held up four fingers, a signal that he believed the previous play was third down.
“I’m pretty sure my quarterback knows what fourth down is,” Williams said. “You know what I mean? That’s what I’m saying, like, Aaron Rodgers would never do that. Never.
“[Rodgers] is too smart for that, we would never be in that type of situation because ‘A-Rod’ is always prepared, always looking at the clock. We’ve got too many people who are just too ready to go.
“We’ve been in those types of pressure situations before, so I feel like it’s just natural for us to be on top of everything and go ball. I would never expect that from my boy” Rodgers.
Rodgers, 36, has completed 70.5% of his throws for 1,214 yards this season. He also has 13 touchdown passes and zero interceptions through four games. His 128.4 quarterback rating trails only Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (129.8).
The eight-time Pro Bowl selection, two-time All-Pro, two-time MVP and former Super Bowl champion also has the Packers off to a 4-0 start.
Brady, 43, has completed 64.3% of his throws for 1,375 yards. He has 12 touchdown passes and four interceptions for the 3-2 Buccaneers. The 14-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time All-Pro and three-time MVP threw five touchdown passes in Week 4 before he had just one touchdown toss in the loss to the Bears.
Brady praised Rodgers when he spoke to reporters on Thursday. He called Rodgers “one of the great quarterbacks to ever play the game.”
“There is a lot to like about his play and his ability to pass the football,” Brady said. “I think everyone is always in awe of how he makes it look so easy: the throwing motion, the velocity, the placement of the ball and how quickly the ball gets from his hand to the receiver’s hands.
“It has been unbelievable to watch over the years. He has really kept it going.”
Rodgers and Brady have played just twice during their decorated NFL tenures. Rodgers’ Packers beat Brady’s New England Patriots in 2014 in Green Bay, Wis. Brady and the Patriots beat Rodgers’ Packers in their last matchup on Nov. 4, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass.
“He has obviously done it at the highest of levels for so long,” Rodgers said of Brady on Wednesday. “He is an icon at the position and someone we have all looked up to for so many years as a standard of excellence.”
The Buccaneers host the Packers at 4:25 p.m. EDT on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Packers are favored the win the Week 6 matchup.
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