Troy Aikman, Mike Silver at odds over Jared Goff criticism

[Rampage]

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I love a good media squabble. Especially when I’m not involved in it. I’ll now try to address the latest one without landing in the crossfire.

It comes from Mike Silver of NFL Network and Troy Aikman of FOX. It was sparked by the Jared Goff trade from L.A. to Detroit.

In Silver’s Sunday item regarding the relief Goff feels in being traded by the Rams, Silver suggested that coach Sean McVay was criticizing Goff during FOX production meetings, and that Aikman passed along to the audience the things McVay was saying.

“Routinely trashed this season on FOX telecasts, specifically those with Troy Aikman as the lead analyst, Goff could reasonably assume that McVay’s words about his quarterback’s play in network production meetings were far from glowing,” Silver wrote.

Aikman responded with both barrels.

“Unlike Michael Silver, I strive to be fair and balanced and do not have an agenda when doing my job,” Aikman told Jimmy Traina of SI.com. “The record will show that I have been a strong supporter of Jared Goff’s over the years. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Rams and Jared Goff, he did not perform at his best in the games that I broadcasted this season and I’m confident Jared would be the first to agree.”

Aikman never addressed the core allegation from Camp Goff: That McVay said bad things about Goff during production meetings, and that Aikman repeated those criticisms on the air, without (as the convention mandates) mentioning McVay. Instead, Aikman went straight for the jugular.

And here’s where I’ll just end the post, in order to keep my jugular and all other arteries intact. At least for another day.