Sauce Gardner dismisses anger over Aaron Rodgers’ minicamp absence

NFL

By Bradley Locker

Sauce Gardner doesn’t want to hear the criticism of his quarterback.

Although the Jets and their beleaguered fans are anxious about Rodgers missing the team’s mandatory minicamp from June 11-13, Gardner is trying to set the record straight about the 40-year-old.

“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,” Gardner posted on X on Wednesday night.

To Gardner’s point, Rodgers was present during Jets OTAs held in late May and early June, a period of activity he certainly could have skipped due to either his veteran status or recovery from a torn Achilles.

Still, Rodgers has been cast as entitled and even a bad leader by some in the football media space due to missing this week’s practices because of an event that’s “important to him,” according to Jets head coach Robert Saleh.

The flame of speculation only rose after former 13-year NFL quarterback Chase Daniel commented that Rodgers’ absence was “expensive.”

At the same time, it’s unlikely that Rodgers’ time away from the team in mid-June — if legitimately that brief — would have a significant consequence on the 2024 season, one which will incorporate months of diligent game-planning and practice.

The 23-year-old Gardner hasn’t been shy in expressing support for Rodgers in the past.

“When he walks into the room, he’s going to shake the room every time,” Gardner said last September. “He’s a natural leader. Great guy to be around. He changed the organization in a lot of ways, for sure.”

Rodgers isn’t the only high-profile Jet that was away from Florham Park this week, either.

Newly acquired edge rusher Haason Reddick also skipped minicamp because of a lingering contract dispute, but Reddick defended himself on X, referring to narratives about him as “foolery.”

Understandably, Jets fans are as ravenous as ever for every chance to see Rodgers on any type of field after playing just four snaps before rupturing his Achilles to start the 2023 season.

Without Rodgers, the Jets finished 7-10 for the second straight season despite a defense that ranked third in expected points added (EPA) per play.

In lieu of No. 8, Jets quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle finished with a combined statline of 3,355 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions on a miserable 59.4 percent completion rate.

The team’s offense ranked 29th in points per game and scored more than 22 points just three times.

Despite Rodgers being on the wrong side of 40 and having suffered a season-ending injury, the Jets remain confident that the quarterback will look like his dynamic past self, much more the part of a four-time MVP winner that can elevate an offense stuck in neutral.

The Jets will be away from the practice field until July 24, when training camp begins.

Until then, the NFL landscape will remain engrossed in Rodgers’ activities — both on and off the field.