New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers caused waves when he wasn’t among his teammates at mandatory minicamp from June 11 to 13.
Rodgers was seen at some Jets OTAs, but when he was required to be in Florham Park, New Jersey, on One Jets Drive, he was absent. And the franchise considered it "unexcused."
New England Patriots legendary receiver Julian Edelman made an appearance on Fox Sports "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," where he admitted he thought it was a "bad look" for Rodgers not to be present.
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"I think it’s a bad look for your leader, for whatever reason, to go and miss an unexcused absence," Edelman said.
"I was with Tom Brady in his 25th year or 23rd year, and he started missing OTAs here and there, but he never missed a mandatory minicamp. I just thought it was a bad look."
Edelman went on to explain why he had this feeling when seeing Rodgers not with the Jets.
JETS' SAUCE GARDNER DEFENDS AARON RODGERS AMID CRITICISM OVER MINICAMP ABSENCE
"I know a lot of people do things differently," he began. "But God forbid the New York Jets start 1-3 at the beginning of the season, which they start with the [San Francisco] Niners, Tennessee [Titans], [New England] Patriots and someone else regardless. We all know the Patriots are no good, but that defense is still the same defense, and that’s who Aaron goes against.
"If they go 1-3, this is going to be such a big distraction for that locker room. Because everyone is going to be talking about it – this is New York City. It’s the media capital of the world."
Now, Edelman did add that "nobody’s going to care" if the Jets go undefeated to start the season. But considering multiple factors – Rodgers’ Achilles injury having him play four snaps all of last season among them – Edelman believes it would've been a benefit if the Jets had him there.
"I’m a big Aaron Rodgers fan, but if I was in that locker room, and Aaron Rodgers wasn’t there for three days on the mandatory minicamp, having played four snaps off of an injury when we have two new receivers, a bunch of new linemen that we added to the team, with a CBA that doesn’t allow us to practice a lot, I guarantee there’s four or five guys – six, seven, eight, nine guys in that locker room – sitting there like, ‘Where’s he at?’" Edelman said.
The Jets did know that Rodgers wasn’t going to attend the mandatory minicamp ahead of time, but whatever previous plans he had still led to the unexcused absence, which leaves him subject to fines.
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 right now that I feel solid about is that he is somewhere that they could not excuse and maintain credibility with the rest of the locker room, but would be expected, would not be an out-of-left-field thing for him," Breer said. "So, you guys can open your mind, so to speak, as he’s been known to open his mind sometimes, into all the possibilities."
Breer would be alluding to Rodgers’ known retreats that he’s publicly discussed, which included a darkness one last offseason, where he came out knowing that he wanted to continue playing football and that 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.
No matter the case, Breer explained that the absence was one they couldn't excuse, as the Jets want to keep things fair.
"They communicated to him that they wouldn’t be able to excuse him for that, and again, it’s because that’s how you maintain credibility with your locker room," Breer added. "You can’t do something for one person that you wouldn’t do for other stars of the team, let alone, like, guys on down the roster, right?"
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