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NFL insider Albert Breer implied that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers' absence from the team's mandatory two-day mini camp is due to something that "would be expected" but the team "could not excuse and maintain credibility with the rest of the locker room."
“The best I can answer this right now that I feel solid about is that he is somewhere that they could not excuse and maintain credibility with the rest of the locker room, but would be expected, would not be an out-of-left-field thing for him,” Breer said about Rodgers’ unspecified whereabouts via the New York Post.
Rodgers, 40, has famously endorsed the usage of ayahuasca and many fans speculated that he's attending an event in relation to the psychedelic. The four-time NFL MVP also went on a darkness retreat while contemplating his NFL future last offseason.
Last week, head coach Robert Saleh revealed that Rodgers, who had previously been present for the Jets' OTAs and other sessions, and linebacker Haason Reddick, who is holding out for a new contract, were both deemed as unexcused absences, telling reporters the quarterback was, instead, attending an event "that was very important to him."
"Aaron and I spoke before OTAs started," Saleh said via NFL.com. "He's been very good in communication. He's been here the entire time. It's inexcused, but he had an event that was very important to him, which he communicated."
Rodgers was acquired by the Jets after last offseason after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, but limited to just four snaps before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in his Jets debut last September.
"I feel really good," Rodgers said of his injury status last month via NFL.com. "It's just about the mental part. These practices have been nice the last couple of days. Feel what it's like to be out there, to be moving around, to not be thinking about it and see how I respond the next day. This is the last part.
"The strength is good, the movement is good, just the confidence to do everything."
Reddick, 29, was acquired by the Jets in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in April and is in the final year of a three-year, $15 million deal he signed with the Eagles in 2022. The New Jersey native was selected to the Pro Bowl during each of the past two seasons and a second-team All-Pro in 2022.