Packers role player reveals helpful gesture from Aaron Rodgers

“I love 12, man. He actually opened me up a little bit to get me more comfortable around here,” Nixon said. “I’m kind of a to myself type of person. I’m a great locker room guy, just kind of in my shell kind of thing, and I was new here. 12 asked me, ‘Why are you so uptight?’ So he tried to give me a hug, and I pushed him and said ‘Don’t touch me no more.’ He was like, ‘Just bring it in.’ It felt good. I needed a hug.

“I didn’t give him a hug until Week 6 or 7. I didn’t even talk to him probably until, like, Week 3.”

There have been reports this year that some of the Packers’ young wide receivers have felt scapegoated by Rodgers, which fueled an already-existing perception that Rodgers is not interested in mentoring a stable of young players. Maybe that is true for wide receivers, but it certainly does not seem to have applied to Nixon. There have been other examples that would dispute that claim as well.

On the other hand, Rodgers did not seem too fond of the Packers’ previous punt returner. Maybe in his own way he helped Nixon get the job.