My impressions:
- No, he's not happy about it. Why would he be? I've done my current job very well for 9 years - if they came and told me I needed to learn a brand new job and had no choice in the matter, I wouldn't be happy about it. And if they told me this right before the year where my performance dictated my future pay or even my future chance of employment, I REALLY wouldn't be happy about it.
- He's clearly determined to do it, and give his all. He is not going to complain publicly about it, or confirm anything about his displeasure - he's going to put his nose to the grindstone and do what it takes to get the job done. He's the very same guy we've all had the pleasure of rooting for, and his back's against the wall. So he's going to do what he's always done, and make it happen through sheer force of will and determination. Okay, I'm getting overly poetic here, but you get the point. Dude isn't going to complain, and he isn't going to quit. Good sign, I think.
- He strikes me as someone who - whether he's been more friendly to the press before or not - isn't really into being grilled in front of his locker. Perhaps last off-season's fiasco influenced his opinion of the press, and perhaps the fact that the people grilling him have been saying he can't make the adjustment since the Pack hired Capers has also soured him a bit. Notice in the piece quoted above, she goes to great lengths to describe his "failures" in a few plays, and then only briefly and superficially acknowledges the fact that a few plays, viewed out of the context of the overall play, mean nothing. She paints him out as a schmuck, when for all we know his job was to hold Barbre up and he was doing so. There's no way he appreciates the way the local press has handled this - no way. So why the fuck would he want to talk to them? Aaron's an old-fashioned guy who shows respect to everyone - did y'all catch the attitude those reporters were giving him? Where's his respect? As far as I'm concerned, he was amazingly gracious to them - I woulda punched one of 'em, probably more.
In summary: IMO, everyone's right, to some extent. He's not happy - and I don't think we need a direct statement to that effect to know it. However, he's pretty obviously as, if not more, unhappy with how the press is portraying his adjustment.
BUT. He's also pretty clearly determined to make it work, so I'm not going to count him out. Dude is
nails - he'll get it done.