Aaron Rodgers was crucified by the media yet again, this time for missing the mandatory minicamp. While many believed A-Rod being himself would derail the Jets season and create rumblings in that camp, everyone else in the building has stood by him, including his teammates and coaches. Now, Jets owner Woody Johnson has extended his support to his QB. But Nick Wright of First Things First Podcast questioned his motivations in doing so.
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Johnson took to X(formerly Twitter) to post a clip of Rodgers from the spring training, executing some exquisite passes. During a recent episode of their show, Wright and Chris Broussard discussed what posting a video on social media meant amid all the controversy.
They asserted that Woody’s intentions with the post were to get into the good graces of Aaron, who might feel betrayed by how the Jets have handled his absence. Wright&Co hypothesize that the franchise already knew about his intentions of not attending the minicamp, and thus Rodgers could feel betrayed by their lack of affirmative action and so, they are now trying to do some damage control.
However, they felt that tweeting something like this was unnecessary on Johnson’s part, especially when the headlines and media coverage were already dying down.
Everyone is trying to get on board with Rodgers this year, attempting to please him because they know their season depends on him and his ability to come back from injury and be their QB. Wright said,
“This is the owner trying to make nice with Aaron. This is because when Aaron comes down from his high, and sees what’s been going on, this is Woody getting ahead of it. This is clearly damage control by Woody Johnson. But is it smart damage control? We had moved on from this story. Was this smart tweet to send out? I think it’s a bad sign that the even the owner of the team feels debted to Rodgers.”
While Rodgers missing the practices might not affect his performances, even Julian Edelman believes it’s a bad look. He feels if they don’t start well, fingers will be pointed and then it will be a huge distraction.
The Jets have made significant changes this season, adding multiple players to their offensive line and acquiring more weapons. Yet, the only stories coming out of New York are about players missing practices.
First, it was Aaron Rodgers and then Hasson Reddick. Reddick hasn’t even shown up since signing, opting to vacation in Japan instead of attending the mandatory practices. But Rodgers and Reddick aren’t the only players who have missed mandatory practices.
Rodgers Isn’t the First Player in NFL History to Miss the Practices
A QB missing practices isn’t a new phenomenon. During the 2022 off-season, he skipped all of the Packers’ OTAs and minicamp, though he returned after signing a new contract. Similarly, Tom Brady missed the OTAs and mandatory practices both during his final year in New England and Tampa.
Many players have missed the OTAs because of contract disputes. Both Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson skipped the OTAs because of contract situations as did Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuels. Over the years, numerous players have missed off-season practices.
There is no indication that their performances were affected, so there is no reason to believe that the Jets’s season would derail because Rodgers missed a few practices. Minicamps are more for rookies and not vets with almost two decades of experience under their belts. However, it doesn’t seem like Rodgers missed practice due to any contract disputes.
Rodgers still has time before the season starts to build chemistry with his receivers and offensive linemen. Given that he played only four snaps last season, every rep from here on out is crucial and will set the tone for how they approach the season.
