Aaron Rodgers tried to sneak into an ayahuasca summer retreat on Monday, June 10. He knew that the next day marked the outset of a ‘mandatory’ two-day Jets’ minicamp. He also knew that talking to HC Robert Saleh would give him a free pass. What he did not know was the chaos that would follow it all. A-Rod’s absence from the minicamp spread like wildfire and within the blink of an eye, Rodgers found himself looking down the barrel of questions surrounding his commitment to the Jets. Analysts like Nick Wright hardly held back on their scathing words, making all sorts of assumptions about the QB. However, the GOAT Tom Brady made use of his diplomacy.

Well, Brady had to take a dig at A-Rod. Not only because he is learning to be an analyst but also because of the failed efforts of the Jets O-Line, especially after spending such a massive amount on it. Per SI, the Jets spent $12 million over their cap hit in 2024 hits, just to improve their messy O-line, which was ranked the worst last season. Keith Carter and Co. tried out 13 different combinations with 13 different players and yet ended up having a 7-10 record.

Per Brady, this stems from the coaches taking the easy way out and not making each position practice enough. “The CBA changed a lot there’s less practice,” Brady said to Cowherd in his show The Herd with Colin Cowherd, iterating how the coaches now just train the starting positions and some backups as opposed to what Dante Scarnecchia, the former O-line coach of the Patriots, did.

As Brady very proudly admitted on the show, under Scarnecchia, ‘every player was coached’. Even if it was the practice squad or the scout team, everyone was coached. Hence, when only the starting positions are coached, “there’s a lot of less time for us to develop the techniques and fundamentals.” This is exactly why it becomes all too important for each player to join the team-building exercises so that they can “play together as a unit.”

Now that A-Rod is dealing with the aftermath, a $100,000 fine for the violating team’s rules and public condemnation by Coach Saleh over his ‘unexcused absence’. However, the GOAT Tom Brady, too, skipped past some practice sessions in the later part of his career and how he navigated through the questions that A-Rod is facing now.

Tom Brady skipped practice too?

The fans still fondly remember the time when Brady ditched the Buccs for 11 days straight to feature on the masked singer. His team, too, was unaware of his absence. During those 11 days, it was reported that Brady was handling some personal matter and that he was “going through a lot of sh*t,“ a reason that even Aaron Rodgers gave for his disappearance. However, later Brady revealed that he was considering retirement.

The saga dates back to 2018, when Brady started skipping his OTAs in New England to spend more time with his family, per AP News. However, Brady was the GOAT, the greatest QB to play in the NFL then. Hence, no one dared to question him. Well, from that lens, Aaron Rodgers, too, is a HoF QB with 15+ years of experience. Should he get a free pass too?