Aaron Rodgers Explains Why Missing Minicamp Wasn't a Big Deal to Him

Madison Williams | Jul 22, 2024

Dec 24, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) on the field after the game against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

When Aaron Rodgers was absent from the New York Jets' mandatory minicamp in June, fans wondered what the real reason was behind his decision.

Of course there were many reports expressing that Rodgers "prefers to be somewhere else away from football," he went on a trip to Egypt and that there were issues between Rodgers and the Jets.

Well, Rodgers officially addressed his unexcused absence this week when speaking on Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take, and it sounds like the reason may be none of the above. He simply doesn't think minicamp is the same as it used to be as he enters his 20th NFL season.

"The thing that people don't understand was that when I was in the NFC North years ago there used to be a real thing called minicamp where it was … it was five practices in three days," Rodgers said. "Now it's not minicamp. They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want and say this is the minicamp week which makes it more mandatory than the other weeks. But it was an OTA schedule. That's how words can be a little deceiving from time to time. It can make a story about how I missed a minicamp when it was really two OTA days. I came to the first 10."

Despite missing those minicamp days, Rodgers sounds ready to make his long-awaited return after he tore his Achilles on the first drive of the first game last season.