It’s one thing for Aaron Rodgers to be criticized by idiots like me. It’s quite another for him to be criticized by a member of the exclusive club of Super Bowl MVPs.
Former Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who won exactly as many Super Bowl MVPs as Rodgers, criticized Rodgers for skipping the Jets’ recent mandatory minicamp.
“I think it’s a bad look for your leader, for whatever reason, to go and get it wrong [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 just thought it was a bad look.”
The Jets considered the absence unexcused. This led some members of the media to make a big deal out of it, and others in the media to make a big deal out of the fact that others made a big deal out of it. Edelman brings a very different perspective, 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, having played four snaps after an injury when we have two new receivers, a bunch of new offensive linemen that we added to the team, with a CBA that doesn’t allow for much practice, 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, this will be forgotten. Otherwise, some will point out that Rodgers skipped mandatory minicamp.
“God forbid the New York Jets start 1-3 to start the season, which they start with the Niners, Tennessee, Patriots and anyone else, regardless [the Broncos],” Edelman said. “We all know the Patriots aren’t good, but this defense is still the same defense, and that’s who Aaron is going against. If they go 1-3, that will be a huge distraction for the locker room. Because everyone will talk about it.”
While it would be difficult after training camp and the preseason to draw the line at mid-June if the Jets go 1-3 or worse to start the season, Rodgers’ absence invites scrutiny as to whether he is really committed to 2024. Jets. (Remember, he actually considered stepping down as NYJ QB to run for US Vice President.)
It’s fair to argue that if he was truly committed to the 2024 Jets, he wouldn’t have missed mandatory minicamp.
And that’s not just some idiot like me saying that. A Super Bowl MVP said this too.
