GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he didn't play a part in the firing of a fellow employee.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, longtime maintenance employee Mike Wood, 53, was sitting in a maintenance cart in a stadium tunnel a few days before the Minnesota Vikings visited Lambeau Field on Nov. 1.

As McCarthy talked to the grounds crew, Wood said he yelled to McCarthy to "get the boys ready to kick some butt this weekend."

A few days later, Wood was fired.

Wood said his supervisors thought he told McCarthy not to lay an egg, or something similar.

The Packers organization said Wood's supervisors determined he made an inappropriate comment.

McCarthy said Friday he had the conversation with Wood, but McCarthy wouldn't reveal what Wood said.

"He made a comment. I commented back. It's not the worst thing ever said. But I would not say that to a fellow employee," McCarthy said.

Wood has worked for the Packers for 22 years. He was planning on retiring from the Packers at the end of the year.