Jets are Scrambling to Excuse Aaron Rodgers' Unexcused Absence From Mandatory Minicamp, Making it All the More Pathetic

Jerry Thornton6/12/2024 5:30 PM

Mike Stobe. Getty Images.

Let's see, where were we with regards to the NY Jets latest savior, in a long line of them that stretches back since before most of us were born? Oh, right. I remember. Why it seemed like only yesterday that … we … were …

discussing … this …

And now, being the Jets, they've entered the secondary phase of the operation. Namely trying to convince their public that a franchise quarterback having something better to do than earn his $17 million cap hit with the teammates he played four downs with last season is something they're not the least bit concerned about. Which means they've fallen back on their Standard Operating Procedure, which is to find a friendly media member and feed him their spin to regurgitate:

Source - Most teams have one or more reporters to whom they will leak self-serving explanations, whenever something controversial happens. For the Jets, one of those reporters seems to be, in my opinion, Connor Hughes of SNY. …
[I]t’s Hughes who is providing a detailed explanation for the Aaron Rodgers absence from mandatory minicamp. Here’s his nothing-to-see-here post on X from this morning:

The Jets might think this makes things better. It doesn’t. The version that was spoon-fed to Hughes proves what a failure of P.R. and strategic planning this was.
First, if it was known for months that Rodgers was planning a trip that might conflict with mandatory minicamp, why didn’t anyone breathe a word of it before the first day of mandatory minicamp? …
Second, WHY DIDN’T THEY DO MANDATORY MINICAMP LAST WEEK? …[If] it was impossible to do that, that’s when they should have leaked the story that Rodgers wouldn’t be present for mandatory minicamp.
Third, players with other teams are routinely excused from mandatory minicamps. Three Packers have been excused this week. The Seahawks have excused their punter, who is getting married. Several Jaguars are excused. The Steelers excused running back Najee Harris on Tuesday.

Excellent points, all. If this really was not an issue, something the team knew was coming all along, then they had plenty of ways to prepare for it. Had Rodgers let them know a while ago, they would've avoided this PR disaster in myriad ways. Announced it. Rescheduled practices. Simply excused Rodgers altogether. For sure they wouldn't have waited until the last possible minute and then trotted out poor, Robert Saleh for a press conference where he came across like a high schooler doing a book report on The Grapes of Wrath without ever reading it:

Instead, all signs point to one thing: Rodgers boned the Jets right in the ol' prison wallet. He sprung his plans on them at the last possible second. So now they're turning to their team stenographers in the media to put their preferred narrative out there, and turning to Tyrod Taylor as a contingency plan.

Meanwhile, ARod is nowhere to be seen. His whereabouts are unknown. He's got better things to do than earn his pay, and no one's entitled to know what that is. Though I do like this guy's theory:

But hey, it's all semantics, right? There's no unrest inside the building! The Jets have no idea why anyone would care! Not even the other roster full of guys who would rather be doing whatever Rodgers is doing, but instead are in New Jersey running 7-on-7s and red zones and listening to their coaches' jibber-jabber. I'm sure none of them are bothered, amirite? So why should anyone else be?

Let me just ask all involved a quick question: If minicamp attendance has no effect on what the Jets/Rodgers will accomplish this season, then why are they so mandatory?