Earlier this month, New York Jets veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlines by skipping the team’s mandatory minicamp. While the team has largely downplayed his absence, legendary New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is calling him out for it.
During a recent interview with Colin Cowherd, Julian Edelman called it a “bad look” for Aaron Rodgers to skip the team’s mandatory minicamp, pointing out that his longtime teammate Tom Brady never did anything like that.
“I think it’s a bad look for your leader, for whatever reason, to go and miss [a mandatory minicamp],” Edelman told Cowherd according to Fox News. “I was with Tom Brady in his 25th year 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.”
While Edelman did express his general appreciation for Rodgers, he says he can “guarantee” that there were some players in the New York Jets locker room who were not all that enthused with Rodgers skipping the mandatory minicamp.
“I’m a big Aaron Rodgers fan, but if I was in that locker room, and Aaron Rodgers wasn’t there for three days on the mandatory minicamp, having played four snaps off of an injury when we have two new receivers, a bunch of new linemen that we added to the team, with a CBA that doesn’t allow us to practice a lot, I guarantee there’s four or five guys — six, seven, eight, nine guys in that locker room — sitting there like, ‘Where’s he at?’” Edelman said.
Edelman suggested that Rodgers could face even more criticism for this decision and distraction if the Jets have a slow start to the upcoming season.
“God forbid the New York Jets start 1-3 at the beginning of the season, which they start with the Niners, Tennessee, Patriots and someone else regardless [the Broncos],” Edelman said. “We all know the Patriots are no good, but that defense is still the same defense, and that’s who Aaron goes against. If they go 1-3, this is going to be such a big distraction for that locker room. Because everyone is going to be talking about it.”
Clearly, Edelman seems to think that Rodgers should not have skipped the mandatory obligations.
[Fox News]
