Jets' Aaron Rodgers addresses mandatory minicamp controversy

New York Jets starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers generated quite a bit of headlines when he skipped the club's two-day mandatory minicamp as an unexcused absence for what was later learned to be a June vacation.

Rodgers discussed the situation during the latest edition of the "Pardon My Take" podcast.

"The thing that people don't understand was that when I was in the NFC North (with the Green Bay Packers) years ago there used to be a real thing called minicamp where it was … it was five practices in three days," Rodgers said, as shared by Nick Shook of the NFL's website. "Now it's not minicamp. They can arbitrarily put a tag on whatever week of (organized team activities) they want and say this is the minicamp week which makes it more mandatory than the other weeks. But it was an OTA schedule."

Rodgers routinely participated in voluntary workouts this spring as he continued his recovery from the torn Achilles he suffered in September 2023. As Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post pointed out, though, Rodgers was subject to fines because his mandatory minicamp absences were unexcused.

"That's how words can be a little deceiving from time to time," Rodgers added about his June whereabouts. "It can make a story about how I missed a minicamp when it was really two OTA days. I came to the first 10."

Multiple Jets players, head coach Robert Saleh and even some team reporters previously poured cold water over any idea that Rodgers missing two days of work would serve as a distraction for the club from the start of training camp through the preseason. Somewhat interestingly, the future Hall of Famer neither confirmed nor denied during the "Pardon My Take" chat that the 2024 season could be his last as an active player.

Rodgers, who turns 41-years-old in December, hinted earlier this year he could play another "four" years.

"I don't know. I'm not sure," Rodgers said about how many campaigns he may have left in the tank. "This one, for sure. I wanted to do two good ones to give us a chance to retire a Jet, win two Super Bowls."

Rodgers was part of only four meaningful offensive plays last September before he went down with what became a season-ending injury. His latest comments suggest he could try to give the Jets two full seasons, but it remains to be seen if his body will cooperate with such plans.