Aaron Rodgers doesn’t show up for Packers’ optional team activities

May 24, 2021 | 10:44 AM

GREEN BAY — The rift between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers is continuing as the reigning NFL MVP is not reporting to Lambeau Field today for organized team activities, according to media reports.

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky and Adam Schefter report the quarterback did not show up in Green Bay this morning for the start of the optional offseason program. While it’s not uncommon for veteran players to not attend those activities, Rodgers has made it a point throughout his career to participate. That is not the case this year.The

The Packers were hoping to build on the momentum of Rodgers’ MVP season and getting within one game of the Super Bowl before losing to eventual champion Tampa Bay, but instead, the offseason has been dominated by reports of Rodgers’ unhappiness with the organization and his unwillingness to return.

Some reports have indicated that at one point, Rodgers was thinking about retiring rather than return to the team that has seemingly begun the process of replacing him, drafting quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of last year’s NFL Draft, before Rodgers went on to have one of the best seasons of his career.

Some former teammates who have spoken to him this offseason have indicated that the relationship may be able to be salvaged, though, and head coach Matt LaFleur recently said he wants Rodgers back “in the worst way” and the team is working “every day” to try to convince him to return.

Rodgers hasn’t spoken publicly about his problems with the Packers, but was spotted in Hawaii with fiancee Shailene Woodley last week.

This week’s organized team activities were the first chance for Rodgers to return to the team, even if they are voluntary. The team’s first mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June. If Rodgers were to skip those workouts, too, he would then face growing fines for every day he misses.