Aaron Rodgers’ Unexcused Absence Compared to Ceedee Lamb’s Holdout as NFL Analyst Calls Out NY Jets ‘Incompetence’

Aaron Rodgers’ ayahuasca jokes are getting out of hand. Rich Eisen invited Albert Breer on his show to “spill the tea” about the 4x MVPs mysterious “unexcused” absence. Per Breer, people are giving way more into it than they should. Meanwhile, per an SI journalist, Robert Saleh and the Jets’ management knew that Rodgers wouldn’t be there for the mandatory training.

But the fact that they didn’t disclose the information to the public early enough is why the story is getting so much traction. Rodgers took a fine of $101k for his disappearance and he seems to have no issues with it. However, the New York Jets providing him some laxation would not be possible because that would be disrespectful to the likes of Haason Reddick, Garrett Wilson, and Sauce Gardner. Breer put CeeDee Lamb in the same conversation even though his situation is a bit different, or maybe that was the whole point.

“If Robert Saleh gets up there at the podium last week and says, ‘Yeah this is going to be Aaron’s last week, there’s a pre-arranged thing that he wants to take part in next week, he won’t be here for that. We’re not going to excuse it per our team policy, but we just want to give everybody a heads-up,’ this would be less of a story,” told Breer to Eisen.

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The journalist further explained, “It becomes a story because we’re finding out right when it happens. And so, now it looks the same way, you know, CeeDee Lamb staying away or Haason Reddick or Amari Cooper staying away looks, where it looks like it’s some sort of statement. Well, maybe it’s not.”

While Rodgers is missing out because he has to attend an “important” event that he can’t miss, other veterans like Haason Reddick have been missing the Jets mandatory training because of an issue with his contract. He might be thinking that the Jets are lowballing his presence, which is something similar to what CeeDee Lamb is doing. Though, the Dallas Cowboys WR staying away from the training camp is a lot different than Aaron Rodgers, and fans and journalists know exactly why it’s happening.

Is relating Aaron Rodgers absence to CeeDee Lamb’s absence right?ADVERTISEMENT

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Maybe it is not. It’s been in the news for a while that CeeDee Lamb wants a contract extension, perhaps along the lines of what Justin Jefferson just got. The Vikings gave him a 4-year $140 million deal and that’s the ballpark that CeeDee Lamb might expect his deal to be in after putting up 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. But there is something in common between Lamb and Rodgers.

USA Today via Reuters

Both haven’t put out any statements about their whereabouts, not that they need to. As far as putting in work is concerned, Rodgers did more than he was asked for. He stayed coaching the offense last year in some capacity, he’s been actively involved in meetings with the Jets in the time he was not practicing. We’ve seen him throw reps at the OTAs, and not to mention behind-the-scenes stuff that people might not be aware of.

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James Jones, who is arguably the biggest Aaron Rodgers supporter said this about mandatory training, “First day, you got out there you have a little practice, no veterans take any reps. The second day, team bonding activity, paintballing, 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.”

He also mentioned that he was “very very proud,” of his ex-teammate, and his efforts are often disregarded for something like his “unexcused” absence. What do you think about the Super Bowl winner bailing on practice? Is it a big deal? But all we know now is that this inefficient communication has led to a lot of drama. Drama that could have easily been avoided if not for the team’s incompetency.