Jets QB Aaron Rodgers to Sean Payton: ‘He needs to keep my coach’s name out of his mouth’
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The mudslinging between the New York Jets and Denver Broncos continued Sunday afternoon after quarterback Aaron Rodgers finally weighed in on the situation.
During an interview with NFL Network, Rodgers backed his offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett following Sean Payton’s comments to USA Today in a recent article ripping the job Hackett did as the Broncos coach last season.
“I love Nathaniel Hackett, and those comments were very surprising,” Rodgers said. “For a coach to do that to another coach … my love for Hack runs deep.
“We had some great years in Green Bay, kept in touch, love him and his family. Incredible family man incredible dad. On the field, he’s arguably my favorite coach that I had in the NFL.
“His approach to it, how he makes it fun, how he cares about the guys, just how he goes about his business with respect, with leadership, with honesty and integrity. It made me feel bad that someone that’s accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year. I thought it was way out of line, inappropriate and I think he needs to keep my coach’s name out of his mouth.”
Less than one season as Broncos coach, Hackett was fired Dec. 26 after an embarrassing 51-14 Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Rams on national television. At the time, the team had a 4-11 record.
A month later, the Jets hired Hackett to replace Mike LaFleur as their offensive coordinator. Hiring Hackett as Gang Green’s offensive coordinator played a significant role in Rodgers wanting to play for the team.
Denver hired Payton in January, hoping the coach can turn the team’s fortunes around from a 5-12 season in which Russell Wilson had the worst year of his career. Payton appeared to be critical of the way Hackett coached Wilson during the 2022 season, as he said that “might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
Payton also took a shot at the Jets, as the spotlight has been placed on the team since acquiring Rodgers.
“We’re not doing any of that,” Payton said to USA Today.
“The Jets did that this year. You watch. ‘Hard Knocks,’ all of it. I can see it coming.
“Remember when (former Washington owner) Dan Snyder put that Dream Team together? I was at the Giants (in 2000). I was a young coach. I thought, ‘How are we going to compete with them?
“Deion (Sanders is) there now.’ That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen … just put the work in.”
After Payton’s comments to USA Today, Jets coach Robert Saleh had some of his own for the Denver coach.
“I’m not going to acknowledge Sean on that. He has been in the league for a while. He can say whatever the hell he wants,” Saleh told reporters Thursday. “But as far as what we have going on here, I live by the saying, ‘If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t popping.’ So hate away. Obviously, we are doing something right if you gotta talk about us, as we don’t play until Week (5) and I’m good with it. The guys in our locker room, they’ve earned everything that’s coming to them. I’m really excited about what’s going on.
“I think Hackett is doing a phenomenal job here, and the coaching staff is doing a phenomenal job and we’re focused on us. I get it, there’s a lot of external noise, there’s a lot of people hating on us, a lot of people looking for us to fail. There’s a lot of crows pecking at our necks. All you can do is spread your wings and keep flying high until those crows fall off and suffocate from the air and the inability to breathe.”
The Jets and the Broncos will play each other on Oct. 8 at Empower Field at Mile High. Needless to say, the Jets players will be highly motivated to play the Broncos.
Jets tackle Billy Turner, who played with the Broncos last year under Hackett, called Payton an “F——- bum” on his Instagram story. Turner ended his post with a #BountyGate hashtag, which is a reference to the scandal with the same name for which Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season.