Co-host Nelson Figueroa Jr. tried to downplay Aaron Rodgers’ absence saying he deserved the vacation.

As much as the New York Jets wanted this offseason not to be about quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it ended up being exactly that. Although, the quarterback had been focusing more on the team rather than on his off-field endeavors. But then the mandatory minicamp happened and his absence made a roar– putting him in the center for anything but football.

The recent segment of PIX11’s “Sports Nation” went into the discussion of Rodgers’ controversial absence from Jets camp as host Nelson Figueroa Jr. took the quarterback’s side, trying to downplay his absence. Unfortunately, his co-host Joe Mauceri wasn’t in sync with his argument and responded by criticizing Rodgers.

I couldn’t disagree with you more. Not only will it be a storyline, but it should be a storyline. Why? Because Aaron Rodgers said ‘We need to focus on football, we need to put aside all the other distractions.’ But you know what he did? He went and created another distraction that he has to answer for before the season start.

Joe Mauceri told his co-host, who said Rodgers deserved a vacation after all the hard work he did for his recovery.

Mauceri was talking in reference to the quarterback’s press conference two days before his controversial trip, where he claimed that the sole focus needs to be the team and they need to cut out all the distractions.

Criticism mounts as Aaron Rodgers skips mandatory minicamp

Interestingly, Mauceri isn’t the only one condemning the Super Bowl champion for missing the mandatory minicamp. In the recent episode of First Things First, host Nick Wright fired the head coach Robert Saleh, saying “I am officially putting Robert Saleh on the hot seat.” 

Especially since Saleh had labeled Rodgers’ absence as “unexcused” reflecting that the team is not okay with his absence despite the fact the quarterback had informed about the trip long ago as “The Athletic’s” Dianna Russini explained.

Until Rodgers remains in New York, the team has to endure the boatload of controversies that follow the quarterback. And as the team moves forward to the training camp starting on July 26, all eyes are on the Jets to see what next controversy will surround Rodgers.