Aaron Rowe Defends Ed Sheeran After Dropping Out of His Tour

One of Ed Sheeran's opening acts Aaron Rowe is asking fans to pump the brakes on any hate toward the singer following Macklemore's exit ... even after Aaron himself quit Ed's tour.

Taking to Instagram, Aaron wrote ... "All I keep hearing is Ed Sheeran this, Ed Sheeran that. When you really should be focusing on the likes of Robert Kraft."

We reported earlier ... in addition to Robert -- who owns the Patriots -- other NFL owners agreed with his decision to sever ties with Macklemore.

Aaron -- who quit the tour earlier this week -- added that he believes the rapper shouldn't have been fired from the tour ... and that the decision to oust him was a "mistake" made from a place of "panic."

He said ... "I haven’t had a chance to f***ing talk to Ed too much, but I fully believe he knows that was a mistake."

We've reported on this extensively on the fallout ... Ed's entire opening act roster -- including Aaron -- quit, resale ticket prices for his upcoming show in Philly plummeted, and pro-Palestinian groups are set to protest his Saturday show.