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Matt LaFleur Hopeful of Aaron Rodgers Return for Green Bay Packers’ Mandatory Minicamp

Published 06/03/2021, 8:18 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The last we saw of Aaron Rodgers in a Green Bay Packers jersey was when his side took on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the NFC title game in the past season. 

A game that eventually ended in defeat for the Packers was also the start of a rollercoaster few months surrounding the quarterback’s future with the franchise.

Claiming his future to be a “beautiful mystery,” the QB had many scratching their heads. Was this the last of Aaron Rodgers at Green Bay?

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USA Today via Reuters

The offseason followed, but the rumors refused to die out. And the biggest break of them all came on draft day. According to sources, Rodgers indeed wants out of Green Bay. 

What’s worrying for Packers fans is that the QB is yet to deny those claims. Even when he made a televised appearance on ESPN last month, he dodged the question altogether before giving a cryptic response which one can guess was aimed at the franchise’s front office. 

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Skipping the side’s voluntary OTAs, Rodgers simply added more fuel to the fire. While skipping the OTAs can still be overlooked, skipping mandatory minicamp would surely raise some eyebrows. 

Aaron Rodgers’ actions speak louder than words  

The Packers front office has maintained that they won’t trade their star QB. Even Head Coach Matt LaFleur has stated that he can’t imagine the side without the 2020 NFL MVP. 

Over a month since the rumors of Aaron Rodgers wanting a trade first broke out, LaFleur remains in the dark about his QB’s future. 

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“It’s important that we have all our guys and certainly we’d love him to be here and hopefully we’ll see him Tuesday,” LaFleur said while talking to Packers News.

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Missing the OTAs, Rodgers was last spotted in Hawaii with fiancée Shailene Woodley. But unlike the OTAs, next week’s minicamp is mandatory for players to attend. Failing to turn up could see Rodgers being a fined a hefty fee of up to $93,085.

There were some other notable absentees from the Packers OTAs as well. Key Packers wide receivers Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Devin Funchess also gave the voluntary event a skip.

Whether this was an individual decision or one to show their support for Rodgers remains unknown much like everything else involved in this trade saga. 

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While Rodgers has mostly kept quiet about his future, not turning up for minicamp would say quite a lot about what might follow.

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Written by:

Shivayan Roy

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Shivayan Roy is currently an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his Masters Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Roy functioned as a reporter for Goal.com and extensively covered the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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