Jul 27, 2024; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) performs an elaborate handshake with a young fan during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Aaron Rodgers appears to have the ability to be a one-man news report-making machine, and his recent absence from a New York Jets minicamp certainly caused a lot of consternation among fans and drove news outlets to produce tons of coverage, and it appears that the whole incident was very much a case of a mountain being made out of a molehill.
It turns out that the veteran quarterback’s trip to Egypt was pre-planned, and Rodgers had believed that his team’s offseason programming would be complete by the time he left for the Middle East, causing the overlap.
Clearly, in any other scenario, and perhaps with any other NFL player, this would be chalked up to a misunderstanding and would not even have made the back page of a local paper, but as we are talking about a four-time NFL MVP and one of the best QBs to have ever played the game, that’s why we are where we are.
New York Jets fans will, of course, forgive any absence, just so long as they finally get to see the former Green Bay Packers star actually make an impact in his second season at the MetLife Stadium. Supporters of the much-maligned franchise who feel an end to the Jets’ lengthy run without postseason action could be about to end may want to back that hunch with a bet, in which case these BetRivers promo codes will help make the action almost risk-free.
Rodgers, who is not above the law when it comes to punishments handed out by Jets management, was fined for his actions, but the 40-year-old says all is well between him and those higher up the chain of command. He was fined a little less than $50k for his transgression, clearly an amount the former Super Bowl winner can afford to cover.
Rodgers did not duck questions about the incident, stating,
“It’s obviously more of an issue outside the building than there was inside the building,”
“Robert (Saleh) and I are great. We had great conversations throughout the offseason. [We] had a fun one last night in his office till later on. So, it is what it is.”
“I’m an adult. I knew what I was getting into. I knew the fine that was coming and also knew how much I wanted to be in Egypt. I wish there hadn’t been a conflict scheduling-wise, but it was what it was.”
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh also looked to move on from the whole non-story, commenting,
“I’ve had dialogue with Aaron throughout the summer,”
“I got some cool pictures from him. [We] had our normal conversations. Nothing has been broken, but the minicamp stuff, we talked beforehand, so we are on the same page with everything that has happened.” Saleh added.
Rodgers moved to the New York Jets ahead of last season and then suffered a season-ending Achilles injury within minutes of his debut, and Saleh will be hoping to get a lot more out of his star player in the coming season.