Every Aaron Rodgers press conference continues to draw outrageous reactions from the media
Another day, another Aaron Rodgers bogus controversy from New York Jets training camp. What else is new?
My takeaways from Rodgers’ press conference on Wednesday all concerned his insightful and illuminating responses to reporters’ questions. Little did I know that the main takeaway in the media would be regarding his comments about playing in the preseason.
Rodgers informed the media that he and Robert Saleh had not discussed whether he would play in the preseason. He explained that he’d do whatever Saleh wanted. Rodgers then said it was news to him when he heard from the Jets’ PR guy that he wouldn’t be playing in the first two preseason games.
Saleh previously said, “My instinct is, we’ll see” when asked about Rodgers playing in the preseason, later adding that he wouldn’t in the first two games but the third was still up in the air.
Boy, did the media pounce on this. The new narrative is that Saleh and Rodgers are at odds and there’s a power struggle in the Jets’ locker room.
It started with ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, a noted Jets fan. He saw Rodgers’ words as payback for Robert Saleh calling his minicamp absence “inexcused.” (That’s unexcused, Coach.)
“He felt that Saleh threw him under the bus,” Greeny said. “This to me was Aaron getting his little shot back. I think that he doesn’t like Saleh… He strikes me as a guy that ‘you cross me, you’re dead to me.'”
While this could possibly be true, it’s hard to understand where that’s extrapolated from. The Jets didn’t know if Rodgers would play in the final preseason game in 2023 until the week of the game. The Bears and Texans just announced that Caleb Williams and C.J. Stroud will not play in the Hall of Fame Game.
Why does Rodgers saying “we haven’t talked about it” blow up into a fight between the two men?
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington chimed in. He pointed to the 2020 Buccaneers with Tom Brady, who faced significant adversity midway through the season. Brady and head coach Bruce Arians were at odds, so they sat down and worked it out. “Will Aaron Rodgers do that?” Darlington asked. “He wasn’t really willing to do it with Mike McCarthy back in the day, he threw his hands up.”
To be fair, Dan Orlovsky contradicted him, saying Rodgers knows what’s at stake and how critical this season is to his legacy. Still, declaring that Rodgers isn’t dedicated enough to work things out midseason is an unwarranted cheap shot.
ESPN’s Damien Woody and Orlovsky joined the conversation.
“You would think your head coach and your quarterback would have better communication as far as what’s your preseason gonna look like,” Woody commented. “Those are the types of things that they should have already had a conversation about… Also the conversations about the whole minicamp, it shouldn’t have been a bigger deal than what it was.”
Woody called the lack of communication “concerning.” However, he noted that the Jets just need to get to football because all the narratives surrounding them have nothing to do with football. Still, he found it “weird” that Rodgers discovered his preseason status from the Jets’ PR guy.
Again, many teams likely don’t have this conversation until closer to the games. This is blowing up only because it’s Rodgers. Woody’s point about the minicamp communication is more on point, though.
Orlovsky came in more strongly. “I don’t think that Aaron Rodgers and Robert Saleh love each other, I don’t think they’re best of friends. I don’t think that they’re the biggest fans of each other,” he opined. “If they don’t win and they don’t play well, this will get ugly and get ugly quick.” He admitted that he doesn’t see it as a power struggle, though: Saleh runs the defense, Rodgers runs the offense.
Both analysts reiterated that it’s essential for the Jets to come out strong in September. If not, they warned, things could blow up out of control in the New York market.
Given how absurd many of the media takes on Rodgers are, it’s hard to imagine he and the team would take the noise too seriously, even in-season. Calling Rodgers’ animated conversation with Garrett Wilson a “temper tantrum” demonstrates just how ridiculous these conversations are.
However, Orlovsky made one rather shocking statement about Rodgers and the Jets. “If it doesn’t go well, this goes down as one of the worst trades in the history of the NFL… because of the expectations.”
One of the worst trades in NFL history? How about Russell Wilson’s, if we talk about expectations? Does the Ricky Williams trade come to mind? The 49ers trading up an arm and a leg for Trey Lance? This is outrageous hyperbole designed to generate clicks. And it sure did, as Pat McAfee addressed Orlovsky’s assertion on his show.
On FOX’s First Things First, Chris Broussard and former Jets coach Eric Mangini took further shots at Rodgers and Saleh.
Broussard claimed that Saleh’s comments translated as “I haven’t talked to Aaron about it.” Mangini lampooned Saleh for not having spoken to Rodgers about it earlier. He stated that coaches have endless amounts of time to talk to their players during training camp, which means they should have already had this conversation.
Mangini used a sly bait-and-switch, though: he claimed Saleh said he “hasn’t had the time” to talk to Rodgers about it — which Saleh never actually asserted.
Once again, who cares if Saleh and Rodgers haven’t discussed it yet? I’m sure Tony Dungy and Gary Kubiak had discussions with Peyton Manning about whether he would play in the preseason. Joe Burrow and Kirk Cousins, coming off season-ending injuries, will likely have conversations with their head coaches about it, too. But have they had them yet? No one knows — because, appropriately, no one cares.
Readers of the site likely know that I have often been highly critical of Saleh, perhaps too much so. But constantly impugning his capabilities as a head coach based on fabricated inferences takes it way too far.
Should Rodgers play in the preseason?
A far more legitimate debate is whether Rodgers should play in the preseason. I think most Jets fans remember their anxiety upon hearing Rodgers would play against the Giants in the 2023 preseason. Still, perhaps the calculus changes a bit for a player who hasn’t seen live action in a year.
Orlovsky and Woody disagreed about this. Orlovsky thinks Rodgers should play, as injuries will happen when they happen, but he could use the live game reps. Woody, meanwhile, favors the joint practices as placeholders for preseason games.
Ironically, though, Orlovsky claimed that he hasn’t seen a lot of players get hurt in the preseason — but then he referenced Mark Sanchez as one player who did. Jets fans will remember Sanchez’s season-ending shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of a 2013 preseason game.
While Rodgers said his preseason availability has nothing to do with his injury, it’s understandable if Saleh is skittish. He would be crushed everywhere if Rodgers went down while playing in a meaningless preseason game. Orlovsky said as much.
In my opinion, whether or not Rodgers plays in the preseason is mostly irrelevant. Given the general emphasis placed more on joint practices than preseason games in recent years, I would tend to lean toward no. It’s hard not to be worried about a catastrophic injury given what happened last season and the history with Sanchez.
The main takeaway here, though, is once again how the media coverage of Aaron Rodgers is outrageously skewed. This is the New York/New Jersey market, which means Jets fans are no strangers to blown-up media takes without substance. But this takes it to a whole new level.
