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via Imago

via Imago

It happened again! Nick Wright just ripped into Aaron Rodgers and it’s not looking good this time. While everyone is searching for A-Rod’s whereabouts, Wright’s “supposed” prediction is that he’s off to attend an ayahuasca ceremony somewhere. This was still an assumption from the broadcaster, but he slandered Rodgers like it was all true.

Wright appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and didn’t hesitate to speak his mind. More importantly, he gave his prediction about what’s going to happen once the 4x MVP returns and what Jets’ coach Robert Saleh might have to face. Rodgers’ absence has created nothing but doubts about his credibility. Why? Because he wasn’t present with his team when every member of the roster was training.

In Cowherd’s words, it was a “morale building 3-day seminar,” and Rodgers failed to show up. Wright found Cowherd’s comments to be too polite, and he didn’t hesitate to speak his mind about the veteran’s absence. “I think you’re being a little too gentle. If the reports are true, ‘Hey give me in ten words or less what happened with Aaron Rodgers last week,’ the answer is: Skipped work to do drugs,” said Nick Wright harshly criticizing Rodgers. While Wright didn’t have a problem with Rodgers doing whatever in his time off, he was not happy about the QBs absence at such a crucial time.

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But one person who’s bearing the brunt of Rodgers’ absence is the head coach Robert Saleh, who accepted that Rodgers informed the team about his “unexcused” absence and got a green light from the team, despite knowing that he had an important workday in the future. “What is going to happen Colin, is when Aaron comes out and talks about this publicly, this is my prediction, not only is he not going to take accountability, he is going to not so subtly slap Robert Saleh’s wrist,” explained Wright further.

Last week, just a day after Rodgers’ absence created a ripple, Saleh tried to play it down. “Aaron and I are on the exact same page. There’s no issue between Aaron or his teammates, for that matter. We addressed it yesterday. It’s more of an issue for everyone outside the building than it is inside. That’s about it,” Saleh had said. Rodgers’ absence from the minicamp has unveiled an interesting fact, something that also did not go unnoticed by Wright.

On June 13 in his First Things First podcast, Wright pointed out, “The last starting quarterback to be fined for missing mandatory minicamp unexcused was anybody anybody Aaron Rodgers oh with the Green Bay Packers in 2021,” while adding, ” it hasn’t happened with any other starting quarterback in the last 3 years.”

While speculation about the matter continues, the whole league remains very polarized about Rodgers’ absence. Fortunately, the QB has some supporters who came to his defense despite all the noise against him.

Is Aaron Rodgers’ absence blown out of proportion?

There are some people who think that him missing the training camp is not a big deal, like New York Jets’ CB Sauce Gardner and A-Rod’s former teammate and an analyst at SPEAK, James Jones. Gardner recently took to X and expressed his dismay at the fans for doubting the QB and neglecting everything he’s been doing for the Jets for the past year.

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“Are y’all really making a big deal because a 15+ year HOF QB missed 2 days of practice after being with the team all throughout Phase 1, 2, & 3 of OTA’s?? GG’s,” wrote Gardner on X. Also, James Jones came to and mentioned how “mandatory training” is a trivial matter and the veterans often miss them.

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“First day, you got out there, you have a little practice, no veterans take any reps. The second day, team bonding activity, paint balling, ice hockey, whatever you want to do,” explained Jones and further stated, “The third day, you go home. So, I know everybody is really jumping on this ‘mandatory’ word, but it is not that serious with mandatory.”

A-Rod skipped the training but racked up fines as high as more than $100,000 for the violation. There is no word from Aaron Rodgers yet and fans and the media are eagerly waiting for the QB to show up and shed some light on his absence. Till then, the Jets might have to tackle the media’s awkward questions about their $75 million QB.