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Is Aaron Rodgers having an "Office Space" moment?
In that excellent 1999 film, which still holds up a quarter-century later, the monotony of cubicle culture is a central plot line. The main character essentially stops showing up to work regularly, and the more he slacks off the more he is praised by productivity consultants.
I won't spoil the rest in case you have made it this far in your life without seeing "Office Space" but still intend to do so, but its resonance showed up this week in a strange place: New York Jets minicamp.
Rodgers, who arrived to much fanfare a year ago but missed almost the entire season with an Achilles injury, is not participating in this week's minicamp. It is mandatory, much like one of those Saturdays from "Office Space" or any number of meetings any number of us might routinely attend.
But Rodgers is sitting it out because ... he just doesn't feel like it?
That's the reporting from NFL insider Dianna Russini, whose exact wording on social media is that Rodgers "prefers to be somewhere else away from football. That's his choice."
That doesn't quite sound like the "very important event" Jets coach Robert Saleh described Tuesday in explaining why Rodgers wasn't at minicamp. Maybe Rodgers is destroying an office printer?
Saleh, who said Tuesday the absence was not excused (Rodgers is being fined), said Wednesday: "Aaron and I are on the exact same page. There's no issue between Aaron or his teammates for that matter. So, like I said, we addressed it yesterday."
Rodgers talked all last year about building a winning culture with the Jets and said in January: "It's not a half the time thing, it's not a sometimes thing, it's not a most of the time thing, it's an every time thing. If you want to be a winning organization, and to put yourself in position to win championships and be competitive, everything that you do matters."
Then he popped up on all sorts of podcasts this offseason and flirted with the idea of being a vice presidential candidate for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Now he's skipping minicamp, which is not exactly a new hustle for a veteran. Brett Favre hemmed and hawed about retirement multiple times while missing almost all of the offseason. Someone like Rodgers doesn't need a few days of reps to prove anything.
But a player of his stature who is coming off an injury and has said the things he said should probably just show up and put in the time.
Maybe he could even work "PC Load Letter" into a snap count?
Here are four more things to know today:
*Rachel Blount joined me on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast to talk about the dramatic few weeks it has been for PWHL Minnesota. You'll definitely want to give it a listen for her insights.
*I enjoyed this Associated Press story on former Gophers wrestler Gable Steveson trying to make it in the NFL with the Bills.
*The Twins couldn't have asked for anything more from Louie Varland, which makes Tuesday's loss to Colorado — one of MLB's worst teams — even tougher.
*Bobby Nightengale Jr. is expected to join me on Thursday's podcast to talk more about the Twins.
