Aaron Rodgers is taking part in his 20th training camp this offseason, and he made an honest admission about it when speaking with reporters on Tuesday.
Rodgers said the Jets’ training camp this summer has been one of the most challenging he has experienced in nearly a decade. That is not because he is working his way back from a torn Achilles, either. Rodgers said Jets head coach Robert Saleh made it clear from the start that he wanted to push players a bit harder this year.
“I would say the camp is much harder this year, and maybe the hardest in the last 7 or 8 (years) of my career,” Rodgers said. “I knew that. I had a little insight coming into camp that that’s what Robert wanted to do.
“I think it’s been good for us. There’s a lot of different schools of thought. There’s always people you can scapegoat as far as injuries and different things. I think some of the older guys enjoy the — to steal a coaching word — the callous part of training camp, where you’re kind of grinding. Some people believe that, although it puts more strain on you in training camp, it actually gets you more ready to play. Some people believe the opposite. You know how it goes.”
Rodgers said he gives Saleh “a lot of credit” for being honest about the type of camp the coach planned to run from the start.
Aaron Rodgers revealed that this #JetsCamp ‘is much harder’ than last year & ‘maybe the hardest in the last seven or eight of my career.’ 😳
Rodgers thinks ‘it’s been good for us’ + believes the older guys on the roster enjoy ‘to steal a coaching word the callus part of training… pic.twitter.com/iDR5CpKMi1
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) August 21, 2024
When asked on Wednesday about Rodgers’ comments, Saleh said he wanted to get away from “this country club style that’s kind of taking on all of sport.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh on running a hard training camp this summer and bucking the ‘country club’ trend of recent years in the NFL. 🏖️🏈 pic.twitter.com/aEMZyfT9oh
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) August 21, 2024
If the Jets get off to a rough start to the season, some will question whether the tough training camp paid off. Rodgers indicated that he believes the team will benefit from it, however.
Rodgers, of course, missed mandatory minicamp earlier this summer, though his teammates seemed to think the reaction was blown out of proportion. The 40-year-old is coming off major surgery, so perhaps being pushed during the offseason is something that will benefit him.
