New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was emphatic in his defense of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
NFL Insider Peter Schrager sat down with A-Rod at Jets training camp on Sunday, July 30, and asked him about the comments that Denver Broncos Sean Payton made this week to Jarrett Bell of USA Today.
“Those comments were very surprising,” Rodgers told Schrager on Back Together Weekend on the NFL Network. “It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league it that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year. Thought it was way out of line and inappropriate. I think he needs to keep my coach’s name out of his mouth.”
DAMN!
#Jets QB Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) went IN on #Broncos HC @SeanPayton
– Called Payton “insecure”
– “Way out of line”
– “I think he needs to keep my coaches names out of his mouth”
OH SNAP! @PSchrags, @nflnetwork
The Jets are scheduled to travel to Denver to play the Broncos on Sunday, October 8 in Week 5 of the 2023 season. Get your popcorn ready kids.
Payton Also Took Direct Shots at the Jets This Offseason
Payton’s most scathing comments were directed at Hackett for his role on the Broncos as the head coach during the 2022 season.
However, he also took some shots at the Jets and all of the hype they have received this offseason.
“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton told Bell of USA Today. “And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time trying to win the offseason – the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.
We’re not doing any of that. 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’s (Sanders) there now.’ That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen…just put the work in.”
Saleh didn’t take too kindly to those words from Payton.
“Well, I’m not going to acknowledge Sean on that. You know he has been in the league [for] a while so he can say whatever the hell he wants,” Saleh responded on July 27. “I kind of live by a saying if you ain’t got no haters, then you ain’t poppin’, so hate away. Obviously, we are doing something right if you got to talk about us when we don’t play you until [Week 5] and I’m good with it.”
Grab your popcorn 🤣 #Jets HC Robert Saleh said ‘I’m not going to acknowledge’ the comments made by #Broncos HC @SeanPayton criticizing NYJ & OC Nathaniel Hackett, ‘he’s been in the league awhile he can say whatever the hell he wants’ 😳 said he lives by a saying, ‘if you ain’t…
Several in the NFL Weren’t Happy With Payton’s Comments
Peter King of NBC said he spoke to an anonymous NFL coach after leaving Jets training camp about Payton’s comments.
“Well let me start Mike [Florio] by telling you about a conversation I had with an unnamed head coach on my trip yesterday,” King said on “Pro Football Talk” on July 28. “One coach said Sean Payton violated the code, you don’t do that to other coaches in this business.”
.@peter_king spoke w/ an #NFL coach about #Broncos HC @SeanPayton’s scathing comments about Nathaniel Hackett, he ‘violated the code, you don’t do that to other coaches in this business’ + ‘I just thought he went overboard’ 🎥 @ProFootballTalk #TakeFlight #Jets #BroncosCountry
Benjamin Allbright who covers the entire NFL and the Broncos said Sean Payton is “very deliberate with everything he does” but revealed that there are people in the building that are both “surprised and not happy with some of the comments.”
Sean Payton is very deliberate with everything he does.
But there are people in the building surprised and not happy with some of the comments.
For what it’s worth, Payton said publically after his interview went viral on social media that he has some regrets.
“It was a learning experience for me, it was a mistake obviously,” Payton said to the local Broncos media. “I need a little bit more filter. I said what I said and obviously, I need to get a little more restraint and I regret that.”
Sean Payton speaks about his strong comments from other day. He expressed regret. #9sports
My mama used to tell me that saying sorry doesn’t always fix everything. I think that holds true for this Jets team and this presents plenty of future bulletin board material heading into that Week 5 matchup versus the Broncos.
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Jets QB Aaron Rodgers Erupts on Broncos HC Sean Payton