The New York Jets passer just returned from an interesting locale
Never mind that Haason Reddick went to Japan — the real New York Jets question is, where did Aaron Rodgers go?
Apparently, he’s back in the United States now, as former Packers and current Bills receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling stated that the pair have been working out in Los Angeles. Rodgers was also spotted at UFC-303.
But it’s where Rodgers came from that’s more interesting.
SNY’s Connor Hughes confirmed that Rodgers returned from Egypt. Jason McIntyre of ‘The Herd,’ a noted Jets fan, had previously joked about Rodgers returning from Egypt in his interview with Valdes-Scantling.
#Jets QB Aaron Rodgers missed the team's mandatory minicamp because of a pre-planned trip to Egypt, multiple sources told @snytv.
He attended every day of Phase 1, missed just one week of Phase 2, and attended every OTA practice (structured the same as the two minicamp… pic.twitter.com/fPtyMtey59
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) July 1, 2024
Rumors swirled that Rodgers was at some sort of ayahuasca retreat after Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said “you can open your mind” as to where Rodgers was. Hearing Egypt mentioned certainly heightens that speculation. A cursory Google search yields multiple hits for ayahuasca retreats (although that may not be exclusive to Egypt).
Rodgers is infamous in NFL circles for his use of mind-altering substances, namely ayahuasca. His darkness retreat following the 2022 season was the subject of endless speculation and imagination. Rodgers also spoke at a psychedelics conference before training camp in 2023.
As Hughes pointed out, Rodgers was with the Jets for all of OTAs, along with every notable uninjured offensive player. The Jets structure their mandatory minicamp practices in the exact same way as OTAs. It’s essentially as if Rodgers missed the last two days of OTAs as far as the importance of the practices.
As long as Rodgers shows up for training camp and looks as good as he did during OTAs, the hoopla about his choice to skip mandatory minicamp for an event will likely die down. Still, having Rodgers back in the country and working out is likely the best to mitigate distractions for the Jets.
