Dec 24, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) on the field after the game against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: Washington Commanders at New York Jets
(East Rutherford, NJ) – In an interview on the “Pardon My Take” show, Aaron Rodgers finally addressed why he was not present at Jets’ mandatory minicamp early in the offseason.
Rodgers defended his absence saying, “it’s not minicamp. They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want. So this is the ‘minicamp’ week, which makes it somehow more mandatory than the other weeks. But it was an OTA schedule.”
Taking a stab at the media he added, “that’s how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. You can make a story out of the fact that I missed a minicamp when it was really two OTA days. I came to the first ten.”
Rodgers then explained that minicamp was historically a three-day period, rather than two weeks, where players would practice five times over the three days.
The story that Rodgers provided shows that he understood his trip to Egypt would coincide with team activities, contrary to the statement the Jets put out that said Rodgers had “scheduled the visit for what was believed to be after the offseason programs.”
While the stories don’t quite line up, it is clear that neither the Jets nor Rodgers feel that his absence over the two days will have any lingering effect on training camp and the upcoming season.
