It’s one thing for Aaron Rodgers to be criticized by idiots like me. It’s another thing entirely when he’s criticized by a member of the exclusive club of Super Bowl MVPs.
Former Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who has won exactly as many Super Bowl MVPs as Rodgers, called out Rodgers for skipping the Jets’ recent mandatory minicamp.
‘I think it’s a bad look if your leader misses for whatever reason [a mandatory minicamp]Edelman told Colin Cowherd on Friday. “I was with Tom Brady in his 25th or 23rd year, and he started missing OTAs here and there, but he never missed a mandatory minicamp. I was just thinking it was a bad sight.”
The Jets deemed the absence unexcused. That prompted some in the media to make a big deal of it, and others in the media to make a big deal of others making a big deal of it. Edelman brings a very different perspective, one rooted in the Patriot Way and Super Bowl victories.
“I’m a big fan of Aaron Rodgers, but if I was in that locker room and Aaron Rodgers wasn’t there for three days of mandatory minicamp after playing four injuries when we had two new receivers, a bunch of new linemen that we added to the team, with a CBA that doesn’t allow us to practice much, I guarantee there’s four or five guys – six, seven, eight, nine guys in that locker room – sitting there like, ‘Where is he? ‘” Edelman said.
If the Jets start the season strong, it will be forgotten. If they don’t, some will point out that Rodgers skipped mandatory minicamp.
“God forbid if the New York Jets start the season 1-3, if they start with the Niners, Tennessee, Patriots or anyone else.” [the Broncos]Edelman said. “We all know the Patriots aren’t good, but that defense is still the same defense, and that’s what Aaron is going against. If they score 1-3, it will be a major distraction for that locker room. Because everyone will talk about it.”
While it will be difficult after training camp and the preseason to draw a line back to mid-June if the Jets go 1-3 or worse to start the season, Rodgers’ absence invites scrutiny as to whether he is truly committed to the 2024 season. Jets. (Remember, he was actually considering quitting as NYJ QB to run for US VP.)
It’s fair to say that if he was truly committed to the 2024 Jets, he wouldn’t have missed the mandatory minicamp.
And not just an idiot like me says that. A Super Bowl MVP said it too.
