FIRST TAKE | "He should retire right now!" - Stephen A. downplays Aaron Rodgers' minicamp absence

unexcused absence from mini camp sparked a media Firestorm New York Jets head coach Robert Salah downplayed the matter insisting it hasn't caused a distraction or unrest within the organization talked about it yesterday but uh Aaron Aaron and I are on the exact same page um there's no issue uh between Aaron or his teammates for that matter um so like I said we addressed it yesterday it's not it's it's more of an issue for for everyone outside the building than it is inside and um and that's about it oh I got another friend here with me my girl Kimberly a Martin in the building Purple Rain apparently the rescues didn't get the menu Purple rple Rain Robert Griffin II joining us as well RG3 great to have you sir it has been a minute and uh uh stepen you wanted to mention something before I get into the debate right uh uh uh before before we get into the debate uh you can put everybody on the screen when I say this Molly I want you to know something right now yeah so check this out Molly are you ready for this are you ready for this Molly yes so here we are and you're the host of First Take okay and so guess what I'm gonna do I'm gonna do a podcast and I'm gonna have Kimberly on and the subject matter is going to be the industry the subject matter is going to be the industry yeah and we're going to talk about the specifics and all the nuances that it takes to be a great host okay but you're in a contract year Molly and you may not be back and that's when I choose to have the podcast with Kimberly how that look how that look it's all I got to say do you want you want me to respond that's all I got to say you want me to respond I mean if you want to I'm just saying yeah how'd that look I I I just I just think sometimes I don't know intention is everything in life I guess your intention on why you're doing something that's how I look at it so it would be irresponsible on my part to assume that LeBron had that intention with j reic while Darin ham was on the hot seat I'm I'm uncertain of why they decided to do this so I'm just saying it's irresponsible if I don't look at it both ways rather than just take it from a cynic perspective and assume this was an audition for JJ with the podcast I totally understand what you're saying Stephen A where that would be an awkward situation for me I'm the host you're breaking it down but but I don't know so I just have to be responsible and I can only like report facts and present both sides of the case I would say Molly you're the only human being that I've ever known that said intention is everything last time I checked so is impact impact matters too not just intent it's not everything it's a lot intent is a lot but it ain't everything impact matters too not just intent we can move on I mean I I just want to say I don't want to move on Stephen because I want to respond but producers you tell me do you want me to talk football cuz I could keep going with you I say one thing we can come back we can come back back let's just say this to the first take audience we've said this before we've done a show during the pandemic Stephen A and I from our houses where there was no Sports no anything we could fill two hours if we had to so I'll try to keep it together uh Stephen I love that great analogy you put together though I'll remember that one Kmart I'm just listen Kmart's just blessed to be here I'm thankful that Stephen A has me here so thank you maybe you'll be in his podcast maybe you'll be in his podcast Maybe be invited on his podcast later we'll see we'll see what happens you know have you heard of Kimberly I don't know I mean thank you all right let's get to Aaron Rogers you in studio yes bless you okay let's get to Aaron Rogers Stephen A Smith have the Jets handled the Roger situation poorly what do you think listen for those who don't know I was a Jets beat Rider uh for a long time and I have seen the Jets mishandle things this is not one of those things this does not get a rise out of me because I've covered this team for a long time I actually like what Robert solah said yesterday I preferred those comments to the ones he said the day before the day before it just seemed a little wishy-washy yesterday it was clear Stephen A RG3 there's one team one set of rules so it's an unexcused absence but here's the reality Aaron Rogers is running things like this is his team since you gave up so much to get him here the objective is clear this man is here to win a Super Bowl has he been you might say he's missed all mini camp okay I I understand that I understand why people might be upset about it it is not training camp right and I've been critical of Aaron throughout his career for certain things but this man when he was hurt he was in that building he was a leader on the sidelines in a way that a lot of people didn't expect him to be in a way that he should have been uh I guess I don't know give given the benefit of the doubt like this man is hurt and he's still there for Zach Wilson he busted his hum to be back from this Achilles injury at almost age 40 like or I think he is 40 now like that to me is enough where he's earned at least in June yeah for us to say okay this is not that big a deal it's not that serious RG3 where are you on this uh well Molly like I've been pretty upset the past couple days having to follow this story because yes I do believe the Jets uh you know are are mishandling this because it's another distraction that they don't need but at the same time I think it's also just a lot of problems being created on the outside I I think Robert Sal is tired of the media uh I've heard some people say that he that him or maybe someone in the building might be tired of Aaron roggers I don't believe that CU they all know that their jobs are tied to what Aaron Rogers does so in my opinion when when Aaron Rogers comes to you and he says hey coach I'm not going to be at the mandatory mini camp you have two options the first option is you come out and you emphatically say hey it's not a problem because you know that every single word that you say is going to be parsed down to the bone because you're in New York you have a hall of fame or future Hall of Fame quarterback and Aaron Rogers as your quarterback and everyone's going to try to make that a story and the other thing the other option you have is to cancel the damn mini camp right teams do it all the time and the Jets canceled their mini camp last year because the bottom line and the truth that no one wants to talk about is it doesn't matter if Robert Salah said excused or in excused about why Aaron Rogers wasn't at the mini camp everyone was still going to wonder where he is at and Robert Salah has a responsibility to the team with Hassan reic not being there that he cannot say hey Hassan's is in excused and Aaron is excused and then we find out sometime today or tomorrow that Aaron Rogers is in England playing tily Winks that's going to be a problem in the locker room so for me I look at this and I say yes it is an issue but it's not the issue that everybody thinks it is and Aaron Rogers being there for 2 months with his teammates during the voluntary non-voluntary workouts is is more important than him being there for just 3 days of a mini camp that they should have canceled anyway RG3 you're a bit emotional you're a bit emotional my brother I mean that's that's the way I put it I I get where you're coming from I get where you coming from my brother I truly do but I'm GNA tell you something right now man you can't you can't apply that with the New York Jets 14 years 13 Seasons not a single playoff appearance 12 of the last 13 1 years not even a winning record desperate times call for desperate measures now here's what I would say to you Robert Salah said quote he's gone for personal reasons that were very important to him they also acknowledged he would be fed so Aaron Rogers has said I got something going on on a personal level it's very important to me it eclipses football right now in the summertime and I will pay to F boom Case Closed that's the way I look at it now when Aaron Rogers comes back he's got some questions to answer because you're the face of the franchise right uh you were out last year right they had to go the entire season without you right had yet another losing season or whatever now they improved the offensive line they improved the offensive line Bree Hall is back you got Garrett Wilson you got Mike Williams there I understand all of this is on him and I get it but my thing is if something that important happened where you ain't lying about it you're not being disingenuous or dishonest about it you just saying yo I'mma take this fine but I got to handle my personal business right now and that's what I'm going to do then you know something I really really don't have a problem with it now if it was the regular season we gonna have a problem but if it's not the regular season if it's not the regular season or something this is summertime man this June you know official training camp ain't even begin yet it's just some man June like have a jacket on right now like it's it's summertime obviously you know like what where's your little sport coach can't believe it's 90 degrees here it's it's 90 degrees 90 degrees 90 degrees oh so we can show up however you want to show up for First Take okay so and I still and I still look good but it's all right we can move on we can oh God here we go here's the only thing I would say the only thing I will say uh Robert I know that you played the game I'm coming from the perspective of somebody who is in this locker room who has talked to these players who has watched the transformation of this franchise under other quarterbacks to now having Aaron Rodgers so the idea of them having a problem with Aaron Rodgers in this locker room no they just want to make sure like if he's good we're good because when he's on the field everything's gravy so I don't I don't I don't think anybody's feeling some type of way about Aaron the great Aaron Rogers missing time based off of my that and I don't yeah and I don't disagree Kimber I think that on the outside I think on the outside we're creating issues for them if you actually watch Robert salah's press conference and you tell me that the very first one when he said hey it's an in excused absence did he say that with like disdain or sassiness I it didn't sound like that to me so that means people on the outside are creating issues for the Jets I just think that they mishandled this situation because they should have known they're the Jets and you have Aaron Rogers it's always going to be more attention on you from that perspective but I don't have a problem with him being there because Tom Brady was wasn't at OT or wasn't at OTAs for five straight years starting in 2018 and he made it and won two Super Bowls in that time frame so what's better to be there for two and a half months and build relationships with your teammates or to be there for three days that don't matter all right guys I got to hit the top of the yeah yeah yeah they they they all all Purple Rain had to do was say she agreed with me number one and number two both Purple Rain and Molly had on colors that I rocked in the last week I'm just saying still in Many Colors I we go commerci I thought we had to go to commercial I weer that fion they defend that fashion commer top of the hour top of the hour we got to go to commercial got why don't you go talk about your podcast

Channel: Danh FF

Views: 63,739

Keywords: UNDISPUTED, SKip Bayless, NFL, NBA, MLB, Michael Irvin

Id: S0txlKGgUHs

Length: 11min 26sec (686 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 13 2024