New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh announced at the end of OTAs that the team was canceling its’ scheduled three-day mandatory minicamp from June 13-15.
Former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum shared his displeasure with that decision during an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take.”
“They started off with an A+ for the offseason and now they get an F,” Tannenbaum exclaimed on the June 15 episode of “First Take.” “Why would you cancel minicamp? That is the most competitive part of the offseason. Every day together is a good day. You’re competing against what we’ve talked about: Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen. All of these teams that have been together for years and years and years.”
.@RealTannenbaum changed his off-season grade for the #Jets from an A+ ➡️ F, ‘why would you cancel minicamp?’ + @HermEdwards pushed back, ‘3 more days I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference if they make the playoffs or not’ 🎥 @FirstTake #TakeFlight
Ex-Jets Coach Herm Edwards Pushes Back on Minicamp Drama
“First Take” host Molly Qerim asked Tannenbaum if Aaron Rodgers needs a full minicamp in his first season with the Jets and he emphatically stated, “Yes!”
“I would take as much time as possible to have Aaron Rodgers in the building with his new teammates,” Tannenbaum explained.
However longtime former NFL coach Herm Edwards pushed back on some of Tannenbaum’s criticisms about the Jets canceling minicamp.
“Three more days, I don’t know if it will make a difference if they make the playoffs or not,” Edwards argued on “First Take.” “Aaron Rodgers has been in the building all this offseason. He has actually been in the Jets building more than he’s been in the Green Bay Packers building for the last five years [during] the offseason. They are going in the right direction.”
Rodgers confirmed to the media that he has had perfect attendance through the voluntary portion of OTAs this offseason with the Jets.
A-Rod originally planned to miss some of the Jets’ offseason programs to fly back to California to meet with his personal team. However, the minor calf injury at the beginning of OTAs changed his mind and he decided to stick around for the full duration.
#Jets QB Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) confirmed he had a perfect attendance at OTAs this offseason + ‘the last 6 weeks have been about the most fun I’ve had in a while’ 😭 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight
Jets’ Robert Saleh Explains Science of His Cancellation Decision
Saleh said one reason he decided to cancel minicamp was because of the extra preseason game on August 3.
The Jets will report to training camp a week early in preparation for that contest versus the Cleveland Browns.
“The Hall of Fame game they aren’t going to play their starters anyway,” Tannenbaum said on “First Take.”
As Herm Edwards noted on “First Take” Saleh canceled minicamp to give his players “a little crumb.”
It was a form of reward for how hard the players have worked this offseason. In addition to that Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained that there is some “sports science” that went into the decision as well.
“That window, there’s a science behind the whole thing where you give guys a week off. So they’re gonna take this week off, where if you work another week and then take a week off, that’s not enough time to get back in shape for training camp. So if you do it properly and give them the week off, there’s actually science behind the whole thing. It’s not just, hey, let them go have this week off,” Saleh told Breer in an article posted on June 14.
“It’s so they can pick back up and use these next 40 days to get in shape so we can have a healthy training [camp]. So there’s a theory behind it, and right now, for us, what was more important, the extra reps or the health in training camp? We chose health in training camp.”
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Ex-NFL GM Slams Jets for Aaron Rodgers Plan: ‘They Get an F’