Jets teammate shares how Aaron Rodgers reacted to Robert Saleh firing

During a Wednesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers insisted that he resented accusations claiming he was directly responsible for New York Jets owner Woody Johnson firing head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.

Jets tight end Tyler Conklin spoke with reporters later on Wednesday and addressed the notion that Rodgers essentially had Johnson show Saleh the door amid the club's offensive struggles.

"I don't think anybody inside this building player-wise or anything thought that he had anything to do with that," Conklin said about Rodgers' alleged involvement in Tuesday's developments, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. "I honestly, truly believe that. I mean, Aaron probably took this harder than almost anybody."

Whispers about Rodgers and Saleh no longer having the best working relationship hovered over the Jets before the future Hall of Famer tossed three interceptions in this past Sunday's 23-17 defeat against the Minnesota Vikings that dropped New York to 2-3 on the season.

Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini and Mark Puleo of The Athletic reported after Johnson made his season-altering move that "multiple players and coaches" said "after Sunday’s loss to the Vikings in London that the team’s vibes were 'off,' that Saleh was losing support and that some — especially players on defense — were frustrated with the lack of accountability taking place as the offense kept making the same mistakes they made the last few years and wasted another stellar defensive effort."

Despite all that, members of the locker room seemed downright shocked on Wednesday that Saleh was no longer with the organization.

"I was v ery surprised, " Jets punter Thomas Morstead said about Saleh's dismissal, per Andy Vasquez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley noted he "didn’t expect [the firing] at all." Right tackle Morgan Moses revealed he was working out when he learned of the news.

Outsiders such as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk have mentioned that Rodgers probably could have saved Saleh's job, considering the undeniable power Johnson gave the 40-year-old roughly a year and a half ago.

Rodgers didn't go down that road for whatever reasons, and he'll now hope to enjoy more success under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich starting with this Monday's home game against the 3-2 Buffalo Bills.