GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Minnesota Vikings receiver Greg Jennings said Wednesday he was "just messing around" this past summer when he criticized his former team, the Green Bay Packers, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Speaking on a conference call with reporters at Lambeau Field in advance of Sunday's Packers-Vikings game in Minnesota, Jennings admitted he may have gone too far when he criticized Rodgers' leadership skills and said he was "brainwashed" when he played for the Packers.

"I probably took it a little too far," Jennings said Wednesday. "No, I was happy there. Obviously there's things that go on throughout life that you wish would be different. But it is what it is. You have to roll with the punches. Obviously, on my end of it, I feel like there were a lot of things that were kind of manipulated to appear a lot worse than what I was intending for them to be. That's just, as a player, you have to watch what you say, so you learn and you grow."

Jennings, who played his first seven seasons with the Packers, signed a five-year, $45 million free-agent contract with the Vikings in March.

"That's behind me, but at the same time I have the utmost respect for that organization," Jennings said. "I was just really razzing a little bit with Aaron, just knowing how he is and just going back and forth with some of the guys. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone's feelings.

"It was just really messing around initially, and then everyone kind of blew it a little bit out of proportion. I have the most respect for that organization. I had my most successful years there, and I still have relations with some of the guys over there and still have the respect that I had when I was playing there with them. ... I still have respect for them."

Jennings also addressed his comments in his media availability at the Vikings' headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn.

"There were some things said that, man, if I could say it over again, I would have to reword it, so it could be conveyed a little differently. But they were said," he said. "I can't focus on that. I have to focus on the now, and who I am and where I am now.