Where was New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers during mandatory minicamp this offseason? We finally have our answer.
Connor Hughes of SNY revealed in a column posted on Monday, July 1 that Rodgers was on “a pre-planned trip to Egypt.”
“Rodgers originally pieced this trip together during his recovery from his Achilles injury. It gave him something to look forward to during one of the lowest points of his career. He’s long admired Egyptian culture and scheduled the visit for what was believed to be after the offseason programs,” Hughes explained.
However, it was eventually revealed that Rodgers’ vacation trip and the Jets’ mandatory minicamp overlapped when the offseason schedule was released. Hughes said as soon as Rodgers learned of the overlap he immediately let the Jets know.
Insider Quells Some National Narratives About Rodgers-Jets Minicamp Absence
With A-Rod missing two days of mandatory minicamp this offseason he has been painted as a bad leader and someone who cares about other things more than football by members of the national media.
Hughes revealed that the Jets weren’t “concerned” with the absence despite it being unexcused. The reason it wasn’t excused is because the team didn’t want “to set a precedent for players missing mandatory workouts for pre-planned trips,” Hughes said.
In a perfect world Rodgers, like the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, would have been at mandatory minicamp this offseason. However, Hughes said the team was “understanding of how important this trip was for him.”
The only thing that truly matters about this absence is how his teammates feel. National media, fans, or any of the like’s opinions are irrelevant. If his teammates were bothered by it, the Jets have a problem.
However, according to Hughes, he reached out to multiple players to touch base on the subject matter and they had “zero issue” with it.
“As one source put it: Rodgers’ absence during the two-day minicamp will not impact the Jets season whatsoever,” Hughes said.
Hughes explained in a follow-up reply that the trip was for three weeks. For those who had the informed they were “asked to keep off [the] record while he was still there for security reasons. He is now home. Fine to say where he was. Not OK to say where he is.”
Remaining Question for Rodgers to Answer
This report answers the majority of the questions that remained about the Rodgers vacation trip.
However, one last question remains, why didn’t Rodgers move the trip?
Once he realized that his pre-planned trip was going to interfere with the mandatory minicamp, Rodgers could’ve moved the dates of his trip. All parties knew about this conflict at least weeks in advance if not months.
What is the difference between visiting Egpyt at the beginning of June versus late June? That is a question Rodgers will be asked when he steps up to the podium during training camp.
At the end of the day, the answer to that question doesn’t truly matter. It won’t change what already happened.
Like a lot of non-football things that Rodgers says, fans will be fine with it if he’s winning ball games and throwing touchdown passes. If he isn’t, the drama of missing mandatory minicamp and weird non-football interests will take center stage.
For now we have some clarity on another Rodgers offseason storyline that dominated the headlines.
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