New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is sticking up for Aaron Rodgers amid the quarterback's absence from mandatory minicamp this week. In a post on X, Gardner pushed back on people making a big deal out of Rodgers not being with the team for minicamp after he was involved in all three phases of organized team activities. 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.
The Jets held their two-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Head coach Robert Saleh told reporters on Tuesday that Rodgers communicated he had an event taking place at the same time as the minicamp that "was very important to him," but said his absence was unexcused and he would be subject to fines under the collective bargaining agreement. Saleh did say that Rodgers was at the Jets' facilities on Monday for media day before leaving for his event.
Even though Saleh said he was made aware of Rodgers' absence ahead of time, backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor said he wasn't told he would be running the first-team offense until Tuesday morning. When asked about why Taylor wasn't told of his role ahead of time, Saleh declined to answer. "Nope, it's a one-on-one conversation that's not something the team needed to know about," Saleh said.
Following Wednesday's practice, Saleh emphasized there are no issues between Rodgers and the team or any of his teammates. "I talked about it yester.