Aaron Rodgers defends himself over people questioning his intentions about missing Jets’ mandatory minicamp for a trip to Egypt

Aaron Rodgers wants to keep his body 100% healthy for the training camp and especially the regular season.

Aaron Rodgers defends himself over people questioning his intentions about missing Jets’ mandatory minicamp for a trip to Egypt

Aaron Rodgers (via IMAGO)

Aaron Rodgers recently found himself under intense scrutiny for missing the mandatory minicamp over a trip to Egypt. His critics claimed that the quarterback abandoned his team after showing how dedicated he is to the New York Jets’ success in the coming season. 

After enduring a boatload of criticism, the veteran of the NFL finally decided to set the record straight about his absence from the minicamp. Contrary to how head coach Robert Saleh labeled his absence as inexcusable, Rodgers said the minicamp was not important. 

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During his recent appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, the Jets’ quarterback gave the reason why he decided to take a trip to Egypt in between the offense program is because he knew the mandatory minicamp was not important. He asserted that he felt the beginning of the Jets’ OTAs was important and that’s why he planned his trip after that. 

The thing I think people don't understand is that when I was in the NFC North and playing for that team years ago, there used to be a real thing called minicamp. Where it was… five practices in three days. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So, two practices on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers said

He claimed that he wanted to keep his body 100% healthy for the training camp and especially for the regular season. Since Rodgers knew there would be a lack of training in the minicamp, he decided to take some time off for himself. 

Aaron Rodgers criticizes NFL’s mandatory minicamp labeling

Remembering his old days in the NFL, Rodgers criticized today’s practice of the offseason program as he believes any week of the OTAs is labeled as the mandatory minicamp. 

Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers (via IMAGO)
Now it's not minicamp, they can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of OTAs they want. So, this is the minicamp week, which makes it somehow more mandatory than the other weeks. 
Aaron Rodgers added

He further condemned his critics for bashing him for missing the minicamp, when it was just two days of the OTAs. Rodgers argued that there were no stories about him attending the 10 OTA days, but the minute it became evident that he took some personal time from the practice sessions, he became the target. 

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