Typical A-Rod
It was really two OTA days. – Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers of the Jets made NFL news when he missed two days of minicamp in June but when asked about his unexcused absences, Rodgers appeared unconcerned about the optics to his coaches, teammates, and fans.
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No Biggie
The National Football League is a meritocracy and there is undeniably a pecking order. Players like New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers can skate on minor infractions while those on the last rung of the ladder will often be used as an example by the coaches of what not to do. Illustrative of this, NY Jets coaches conducted 10 mandatory OTAs (organized team activities) in May and a mandatory minicamp in June in which Rodgers was nowhere to be found. Yet, not much has come of it.
NEWS: #Jets QB Aaron Rodgers has RETURNED FROM EGYPT and is now in Los Angeles training again.
Rodgers missed mandatory team minicamp for this trip to the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/nAOGczycSZ
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 28, 2024
According to the 40-year-old future Hall-of-Famer, he was on a “bucket list” trip to Egypt and wasn’t aware it would interfere with minicamp. Here’s what Rodgers said recently on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast:
“They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want and say, ‘This is the minicamp week,’ which makes it somehow more mandatory than the other weeks,” Rodgers said. “But it was an OTA schedule. That’s how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. They can make a story out of the fact that I missed minicamp, but it was really two OTA days, but [I] came to the first 10.”
A-Okay Says Coach Saleh
Practices in preseason lead to execution during the regular season when the NFL games matter. That’s why there are mandatory OTAs in May and two days in June which are essentially the same thing except they call the latter minicamp. Rodgers missed out on those two days but Coach Robert Saleh isn’t trippin’, at least not publicly.
“Aaron and I spoke before OTAs started,” coach Robert Saleh said. “He’s very good in communication. He’s been here the entire time. It’s [unexcused], but he had an event that was very important to him, which he communicated.”
Ok, so here’s the full explanation from Jets coach Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers missing minicamp. He says he and Rodgers have been in communication, and Rodgers is missing it for an “event that was very important to him”. pic.twitter.com/yaC9Lmu1pX
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 11, 2024
The “event” Saleh is referring to was Rodgers’ vacation in Egypt. I don’t know about you but I have never referred to a vacation as an event which leads me to believe Saleh had no friggin’ clue where Rodgers was or why he wasn’t there. Edge rusher Haason Reddick was the other player who didn’t attend but that was not a complete surprise considering he is in the midst of a contract dispute with the team.
Saleh insists he was notified by Rodgers and when asked if he was disappointed by his absence he said, “No. Selfishly, I want our guys here all the time, but when you get to these mandatory things, you make the best decision for yourself. Obviously, selfishly, want all of them here all the time, but he made a decision and that’s where he went.”
Selfish? No, Saleh’s not the one being selfish and I’m not sure I’m buying the fact that Rodgers even gave him a head’s up. Young players will be talking to their grandchildren about playing with the 10x Pro Bowler and if that’s the tone he’s setting, it could be another long year for Gang Green.
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