Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers finally split up this off-season. After a few off-seasons of speculation that the two would go their separate ways, that came to fruition this off-season. Just days prior to the 2023 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets agreed on a massive trade that sent the four-time MVP quarterback out east. There has been a lot of criticism regarding Aaron Rodgers time (already) in New York and some choices he made in Green Bay during his last few seasons. Today, he responded to those critics.
Aaron Rodgers Responds To Harsh Criticism Regarding OTAs
Heading into the 2022 season with the Green Bay Packers – a season that turned out to be his last with the team – Aaron Rodgers decided not to attend the team’s organized team activities even though the team had a revamped receiving corps. The move received quite a bit of criticism, but Rodgers is still defending the decision.
During a recent interview with Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Aaron Rodgers addressed the criticism he faced for his decision to skip OTAs in 2022.
“When I’m in, I’m all-in, and you wanna ride with offseason workouts?” Rodgers told Schneidman. “I won MVP without doing offseason workouts. Like, was my commitment any less then? I’d say not at all. The way that I come back to work, not just physically in good shape but mentally refreshed, is the best thing for me to have the season I wanted to have during those in Green Bay. . . . I think that’s just a cop-out written to try and find something to disparage me about that, honestly, when you know what offseason workouts are really about, it’s completely ridiculous.”
It’s worth noting that Rodgers did decide to participate in OTAs with the New York Jets this year as he learns his new team and teammates.
Aaron Rodgers skipping OTAs was certainly the talk of the town in Green Bay over the last few seasons. Most notably, it came after the Davante Adams trade. Many thought the extra OTA reps would be beneficial for Rodgers and his relatively new wide receiving group. In 2022, we saw the offense struggle at times during the first half of the season. During the second half, however, Christian Watson and Aaron Rodgers seemed to be unstoppable at times. While there is no guarantee that OTAs could have had a major impact on relationships like those, many fans think it would have definitely helped.