It's all good between Michael Brockers and Jared Goff.
Things could have been awkward after Brockers called Matthew Stafford 'a level up' over Goff in an interview with TMZ shortly before being reunited with his longtime teammate in Detroit, but Brockers said Monday he reached out to Goff to squash any potential beef.
"I saw how it was just blowing up, I was like, Oh my god, that's not what I meant at all. So definitely right after I saw it was just getting out of hand I had to text him," Brockers said. "I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t see it or didn’t care about his feelings, because I know he reads that. We don’t say anything about it but we definitely read it and I just wanted to come to him as a man and just let him know that I have so much respect for him, just understanding that that wasn’t any shot against him. It was just trying to pump up the Rams (fan) base as I was on the Rams team."
And Goff said he never took it personally.
"Brock’s obviously one of my good friends and good teammates and I get it. It was a TMZ interview and he apologized very quickly," Goff said Monday on the Karsch & Anderson Show. "I love Brock, man. I know how that sh*t – I’m sorry, excuse me, I know how that stuff goes on those TMZ interviews and sometimes that happens. But that guy, he’s my guy. I love Brock. He reached out to me very quickly after that and no ill will. We’re all good and moving forward."
Shortly after the Rams traded Goff and three draft picks for Stafford, Brockers, who was teammates with Goff for five seasons on the Rams, told TMZ, "Is it a level up? "In my heart, deeply, just understanding what [Stafford] brings, it's a level up [over Goff]."
The veteran defensive lineman was traded to the Lions shortly thereafter and signed a three-year, $24 million extension with the club over the weekend. Brockers said he has plenty of respect for a quarterback who led their team to the Super Bowl in the 2018 season.
"TMZ inside the airport, I was really just trying to boost up the move that I felt like the team was doing and trying to boost up the fan base," Brockers said. "I don’t think it was anything against Jared. I even had to go text Jared away from the cameras just man to man, just, like, 'Bro, I did not mean it to go like that. I didn’t mean what I said. As a man, you just know I respect you as a player. You took me to the Super Bowl,' so it wasn’t like that."
Brockers said he apologized to Goff again after landing with the Lions.
"Just because I understand the aspect of being a player. If you're up at this level, you’re a great player. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re playing in the NFL you’re a great player, and I never want to comment on somebody’s career or anything like that," he said.