"Paul and Jesse accepted it because I was the senior player, but in hindsight, they were not doing anything wrong, not hurting anyone, and it was just my old-school mentality kicking in.
"After he returned [from Juventus] in 2016, we had a season together under Jose Mourinho. Then, as before, Paul's application was always fantastic, and his mentality was spot on.
"He wanted to win; he was a strong character, committed to the team. You should ignore all the silly criticism that comes his way. All that stuff about his haircuts and dancing – it's irrelevant. None of it has anything to do with the player that Paul is."
Rooney added: "People can have their opinions about Paul's football, that's fine, but some jump to conclusions about his character without knowing him.
"In my experience as a team-mate, the actual work he puts in every day on the training ground is first class. As long as that doesn't change, then the stuff he does off the pitch – which has slowed down anyway – does not matter, in my opinion."