Robert Saleh can’t catch a break! The New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers recently took the bold call of skipping the entire mandatory Jets minicamp which started on June 11. Afterward, Saleh stated that Rodgers’ leave was an “unexcused” one and seemed unhappy about the quarterback’s actions. However, Saleh’s comments on the matter have spawned an interesting observation from an NFL analyst.

Recently, Mike Greenberg appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and unearthed a conspiracy theory. During his conversation with the former NFL punter and WWE commentator, Pat McAfee, Greenberg cited Dan Orlovsky’s comments on the situation. On the ‘Get Up’ podcast, Orlovsky wondered whether Saleh’s take on Rodgers’ actions was based on sentiments inside the Jets hierarchy and Greenberg echoed the same sentiment.

“Dan Orlovski speculated, on ‘Get Up’ this morning Pat, I’m not sure you saw it, that Saleh handling it the way he did yesterday suggests that there’s somebody who doesn’t like it,” said the ESPN reporter. He continued, “And, we can only guess who that somebody might be. Is it the coach himself who doesn’t like that Rodgers isn’t there? Is it the owner who doesn’t like that Rodgers isn’t there? Is there some other prominent player? Although I find that tough to picture.”

Although Robert Saleh was not pleased about the former Packers star bunking the camp, he clarified that both of them were on the same page about the incident, which contradicts his statement about it being an “unexcused” leave. While Aaron has not publicly spoken about the reasons behind his absence, there are conflicting reports about it. Although Saleh clarified that the QB was attending an event that was “very important to him,” NFL analyst Colin Cowherd claimed that Rodgers went on an overseas vacation and his whereabouts will soon be public knowledge.

Robert Saleh faces backlash for his Aaron Rodgers comments

In the same show, Pat McAfee and Mike Greenberg also questioned the way Robert Saleh chose to deal with the Aaron Rodgers situation as both of them feel that the Jets’ head coach could have handled the issue much better. While discussing the matter, Greenberg brought up Saleh’s apparent unwillingness to speak up while reports regarding the Jets looking to replace the offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett went viral in May 2024.

Greenberg explained, “This was something that could easily have been as close to nothing as possible, but Saleh made it into something. This is the second situation he has completely mishandled in this off-season. He had to be aware that people were going to ask him about all the reports that they had tried to replace the offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett during the offseason.” Defending Rodgers, Mike added, “The very simple answer to the question is Aaron has been at everything. He has demonstrated nothing but outstanding leadership throughout the entire process.”

But, not everyone is after Saleh as NFL insider Ian Rapoport has a very contrasting view on the matter as he speculated that skipping the minicamp is not great optics for the veteran QB. Although his absence may not affect the team’s performances next season, Rapoport thinks A-Rod will be under a lot of pressure if he doesn’t get off to a good start after sitting the entire last season on the sidelines due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Ian Rapoport said, “It’s not gonna be great for Aaron Rodgers especially if things don’t get off the kind of swimming start everyone hopes, it’s just gonna be another thing for fans and critics to latch on to and say ‘how dedicated is he to football? How badly does he really wanna get distractions out? What about minicamp?'”

After missing the minicamp, Aaron Rodgers will return to the squad practices ahead of the three preseason games that commence in August. So it will be interesting to see how quickly the Jets’ no. 8 gets back to his best before the crucial regular NFL season begins in September.