I really hate it when the New York media makes me be the voice of reason. But New York media is going to New York media and the fact that Aaron Rodgers is missing two days of minicamps in June has them New York media-ing HARD.

Scrolling through X (I still want to call it Twitter) you would think Aaron Rodgers is on the run from the law after an armed robbery gone wrong. The back pages of the New York papers are doing the whole “gotcha” thing on the “Rodgers is a bad teammate” narrative they have been waiting two years to spew. Unfortunately, fans are eating it up.

So, here I go. Trying to put out a five-alarm fire with a squirt gun.

Aaron Rodgers is a polarizing figure. He is a weird guy. His opinions are out there. So what? The only thing fans, and Jets fans in particular should care about, is how often he throws the ball and completes to another guy wearing the same jersey. He likes darkness retreats and conspiracy theories? Don’t care. He is 0-11 on third downs? I care.

His polarizing nature makes him ripe for parody and controversy (even my colleagues here at AtoZ had some fun with this Rodgers news). People are very quick to jump on him for the smallest issues because they don’t like him. He was a model citizen for his first 14 months as a New York Jet but now everybody gets to point the finger and yell “I told you so”. Not me.

I look at his absence as what it is. A 40-year-old quarterback who is missing two days of practice in the middle of June after coming off a season ending injury. Do you know why older players wait until later in the offseason to sign with teams sometimes? To avoid having to practice in June. Players work out these offseason program stipulations all the time.

If Aaron wasn’t showing up to every other team activity, you could make the case that he is being a diva or whatever other narrative fits your opinion of the guy. The simple truth is, you should have no issue with a QB of his stature and his age and his injury missing two days of practice.

The problem now becomes the narrative in the media. Enter Robert Saleh who once again, sticks his foot in his mouth by talking too much. Only this time, it isn’t texting Joe Benigno his thoughts, it is throwing his quarterback under the bus to the entire media scrum.

Ok, so here’s the full explanation from Jets coach Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers missing minicamp. He says he and Rodgers have been in communication, and Rodgers is missing it for an “event that was very important to him”. pic.twitter.com/yaC9Lmu1pX

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 11, 2024

"Aaron and I spoke before OTAs started," coach Robert Saleh said. "He's very good in communication. He's been here the entire time. It's [unexcused], but he had an event that was very important to him, which he communicated."

Saleh calling this an unexcused absence, even if it is, is the driving force in making this a bigger story than it is and a bigger story than it needs to be. Again, this is a 40-year-old quarterback missing two days of practice in June after attending every other team event. He obviously had prior knowledge of Rodgers missing this event, and as an organization, they should have had a better plan in dealing with it than what he said.

Saleh was asked if he was disappointed Rodgers wasn’t at camps and he insisted he wasn’t. "No," he said. "Selfishly, I want our guys here all the time, but when you get to these mandatory things, you make the best decision for yourself. Obviously, selfishly, want all of them here all the time, but he made a decision and that's where he went."

Salah making it sound like Rodgers is choosing whatever event over the team is a terrible way to put it. Rodgers is choosing something important to him over two days of June practice. As a guy who will stroll into the Hall of Fame the first day he is eligible and trying to revive a franchise with 13 years of not making the playoffs has earned him the right to do so.

Saleh has yet to learn two very important things as the head coach of the New York Jets. One, is how to develop an offense or a quarterback. Two, is how to talk to the New York media. I don’t believe this is Saleh sending some sort of message through the media the way a Nick Saban or Bill Belichick would. This is a guy who is too nice to lie or fib or even stretch the truth and by not doing so, is creating bigger problems.

Saleh and co. should have had a better plan for this situation than simply throwing Rodgers under the bus and making it seem like he doesn’t care about this team because in the end, you are just giving the haters what they want.

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