The New York Jets training camp is posed with a lot of challenges. A couple of days ago, news about the Aaron Rodgers-Garrett Wilson beef took over the internet. That wasn’t a beef and the QB and his receiver shook it off like nothing happened. However, there seems to be other issues stemming in the New York Jets football team.
A-Rod and the Jets HC Robert Saleh aren’t on the same page. In a presser that took place on July 31, Saleh implied that his star quarterback would not play in the preseason. But things couldn’t be different from Rodgers’ perspective. Colin Cowherd and Dianna Russini discussed the implications of this power struggle on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.
“After that whole Egypt situation where I was told that Robert Saleh told Aaron Rodgers that the reason why he said it was ‘unexcused’ is he wanted to let the world know that he runs the team and Aaron Rodgers doesn’t. Well, you just had him run the team for the last year. You can’t all of a sudden just take it back. I was told that they had a good conversation, they fixed it, everything was good,” said Russini.
She pointed out how Rodgers being involved in tense conversations is actually a good thing for the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers is competitive, he has the experience to take the team to the playoffs when he’s healthy and most importantly, A-Rod’s teammates are in for a huge developmental curve. To that end, Rodgers is crucial to Jets’ success and Robert Saleh’s job.
“I don’t sense that there are issues in the building in terms of that relationship. I think Aaron Rodgers knows what Robert Saleh is. I think Robert Saleh knows what Aaron Rodgers is, and he needs Aaron Rodgers to play the absolute best he possibly can this year in order to help Robert Saleh keep his job,” said Dianna Russini.
There seems to be a miscommunication between both parties, and it became apparent after the recent New York Jets presser.
The Aaron Rodgers-Robert Saleh blues
Let’s go back to Rodgers missing the training camp. The QBs absence was dubbed ‘unexcused’ and it was Robert Saleh’s executive decision to make those comments, per sources. Coming back to the present, Saleh recently implied in a presser that he might not let Rodgers take any preseason snaps and that was “news” to the Jets superstar.
About Rodgers’ preseason presence, Saleh said, “We haven’t really talked about it. My instinct right now as I stand here is, we’ll see,” as he was laughing in the face of media. He further added, “My instinct is no, but I want to leave it open that the third game is where we’ll decide. He definitely won’t play the first two but the discussion on the third one, we just haven’t quite had yet.”
The Jets are playing against the Commanders in about a week and not participating in the preseason games comes as a surprise to Aaron Rodgers. A-Rod confirmed that Saleh’s decision to not let him play doesn’t have anything to do with his Achilles injury and that he has “no restrictions.”
Addressing Saleh’s comments, the 4x MVP said, “That’s Robert’s decision. I’ve never told him, ‘I don’t want to play in the preseason.’”
