New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers caused waves when he was absent from his teammates at mandatory minicamp from June 11 to 13.
Rodgers appeared in several Jets OTAs, but when called upon in Florham Park, New Jersey, at One Jets Drive, was absent. And the franchise is considered “unimpeachable.”
Legendary New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman made an appearance on Fox Sports’ “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” where he admitted that he thought it was “a bad look” for Rodgers to be gone.
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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) gestures during practice at the NFL football team’s practice facility in Florham Park, NJ, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“I think it’s not good for your leader, for whatever reason, to go and miss an unexcused absence,” Edelman said.
“I was with Tom Brady in 25 or 23 years, and started missing OTAs here and there, but never missed a mandatory minicamp. I just thought it looked bad.”
Edelman then explained what he felt when he saw Rodgers not with the Jets.
JET’ SAUCE GARDNER DEFENDS AARON RODGERS CRITICISM ON MINICAMP ABSENCE
“I know a lot of people do it differently,” he began. “But God forbid the New York Jets start 1-3 early in the season, which they started with the (San Francisco) Niners, Tennessee (Titans), (New England) Patriots and everyone else. We all know the Patriots are not good. , but the defense that they still called, and that Aaron was against.
“If they go 1-3, it’s going to be a big distraction for that locker room. Because everybody’s going to talk about it — this is New York City. It’s the media capital of the world.”
Now, Edelman added that “nobody’s going to care” if the Jets go undefeated to start the season. But considering various factors – Rodgers’ Achilles injury had him playing four snaps all last season between them – Edelman believes it would have been beneficial if the Jets had him there.
“I’m a big Aaron Rodgers fan, but if I’m in the locker room, and Aaron Rodgers is gone for three days in mandatory minicamp, has played four snaps off of injury while we have two new receivers, a bunch of new linemen added to the team, with the CBA not allowing us to practice a lot, I guarantee there are four or five guys – six, seven, eight, nine guys in the locker room that – are sitting there like, ‘Where are they?'” said Edelman.
Wide receiver Julian Edelman, #11 of the New England Patriots, gestures to the crowd as he runs onto the field before a game against the Cleveland Browns on October 27, 2019, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. New England won 27-13. (Image by Nick Cammett/Diamond via Getty Images)
The Jets knew that Rodgers would not participate in mandatory minicamp before, but regardless of the previous plan, he still led to an indisputable absence, which led to his fine.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer made a recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” where he provided more context for Rodgers’ absence.
“The best I can answer this now I feel strongly is that he is in a place where he cannot give reasons and maintain credibility with the rest of the locker room, but it will be expected, it will not come out of left-field for him,” said Breer. “So, you can open your mind, so to speak, because he is known to open his mind sometimes, to all possibilities.”
Breer will be alluding to the known retreat of Rodgers’ publicly discussed, which includes the darkness of one last offseason, where he came out knowing that he wanted to continue playing football and it would be with the Jets. Rodgers has also been known to attend ayahuasca retreats.
Cowherd also said last week that Rodgers was enjoying an “overseas” vacation.
Legendary New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman called it a “bad look” for Aaron Rodgers to skip mandatory minicamp (Getty Images)
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Regardless, Breer made it clear that no one is infallible, as the Jets want to stay fair.
“He told me he was never going to forgive him, and again, because that’s how you maintain credibility with your locker room,” Breer added. “You can’t do anything for one guy that you wouldn’t do for the other stars on the team, let alone, like the guys on the roster, right?”
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