This is why New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers chose to skip mandatory minicamp

To hear New York Jets star tell it, there’s no need for fuss regarding his refusal to attend mandatory minicamp last month. On the other hand, given the stir that his decision caused and what occurred after, it may be that four-time MVP is downplaying things just a little.

Aaron Rodgers explains why he missed mandatory minicamp

You may recall our report last month which concerned the fact that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers decided to skip mandatory minicamp. Indeed, Rodgers was fined by the franchise for his choice, though it should be said that all appeared to be fine in the Big Apple after Jets head coach Robert Saleh actually defended his signal caller in the wake of rumors suggesting there was unrest. Later, Saleh even went on to state that the Jets knew Rodgers would be absent though it was still curiously designated as ‘unexcused’, hence the fine.

Yet, through it all, we never did learn exactly why Rodgers was not present. So, why? According to the man himself during an interview on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that was released on Monday, it’s because minicamp isn’t really worth the time anymore. “The thing I think that people don’t understand was that when I was in the NFC North [playing for the Packers] years ago, there used to be a real thing called minicamp,” Rodgers said. “It was five practices in three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Two practices on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. Now, it’s not minicamp.”

Rodgers didn’t stop his justification there either, as he went on to explain that minicamp today is essentially nothing more than extra OTAs and given that he was at almost every single OTA during the offseason, he didn’t feel minicamp was necessary. “They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want and say ‘This is the minicamp week,’ which makes it somehow more mandatory than the other weeks, but it was an OTA schedule,” Rodgers said. “That’s how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. They can make a story about how I missed a minicamp when it was really two OTA days. I came to the first 10.”

Ultimately, the 40-year-old is now back in the fold and in his own words, his Achilles - torn in the opening moments of his Jet debut in Week 1 last season - feels “really good.” Assuming that’s the case then one has to imagine that the Jets have reason to celebrate whether he attended minicamp or not. Of course, should the team be unable to have a solid campaign, expect his decision to skip mini-camp for an apparent trip to Egypt to come under immense fire once again. If you’re wondering, the Jets start their minicamp on Tuesday and Rodgers is expected to be in attendance.