Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett addressed the disparaging comments made by Broncos coach Sean Payton about Hackett’s one-year tenure as Denver’s head coach in 2022. Here’s what you need to know from Hackett’s news conference Tuesday:
- In an interview with USA Today published last Thursday, Payton said he believed the work Hackett and his staff did with the 2022 Broncos “was one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
- Payton said he had “regret” for the comments the following day and that he still had his “Fox” hat on — a reference to his time as an analyst for the network last season — and not his coaching hat. He said he wished he had more “restraint” when assessing last year’s struggles for the Broncos under Hackett.
- Hackett said Tuesday, “There’s a code. There’s a way things are done.” He added that it was frustrating and “it sucks.” He expected some chatter to occur the week leading up to when the Jets will play the Broncos in Denver in Week 5, and he’s almost thankful the storyline is out the way.
- Hackett said Payton hasn’t called to apologize. The Jets’ OC added he doesn’t expect a call even though Payton said he would call. “It is what it is. We move on,” Hackett said.
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What Hackett said
“Obviously, last week has been a very unique week, I think, for this organization,” Hackett said. “I’ve been involved in this business my whole life, 43 years. And as a coach, as a coach’s kid, we live in a glass house. We know that. We all live in different rooms. We have a key for it. And it’s one of those things that, there’s a code. There’s a way things are done in that house. This past week, it’s frustrating and it sucks. But we’re all susceptible to it.
“There are things you do, mistakes you make. It costs you time on the field, it costs you your job, all those things. And I own all of that stuff. I got no excuses. So I own all those things.”
Hackett added, “It’s unfortunate that had to happen, the comments that were made. But they did. I’ll tell you, I was more surprised they happened now, I was definitely expecting them in Week 5. I’m almost thankful that we got that out of the way, we all understand where certain people feel and think. You can always look at that silver lining and man, this organization, these players, the coaches, (Robert) Saleh, the entire organization … has been unbelievable. That’s something that’s just awesome. It brought our team together.
“Even old players I coached very recently, hearing them it makes you understand that you do this for a very specific reason, for the love of the game, for the love of teaching, for the love of watching people grow. There’s ups and downs. You never get too high, never get too low and you gotta love this stuff.”
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Hackett said he believes Payton broke a code.
“I do. I do,” Hackett said. “And I just think within this glass house we all live in, it’s one of those things that’s very expected. You knew it was going to happen, you knew he was going to handle it that way at some point. That was going on all last year, but now it is what it is. We all move on.
“There was some defensive guys that I don’t even know (on the Jets) that were coming up to me. I think that’s great. Heck, at first I thought something really bad had happened. I hadn’t heard anything until after I got off the practice field. Then you hear it and it’s just that and I think: ‘Oh it’s just that? We can deal with that.’”
Backstory
In an interview with NFL Network’s Peter Schrager at Jets training camp Sunday, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said it was “very surprising” that Payton went after Hackett, a longtime friend and coach of the quarterback. Rodgers called Payton’s words “inappropriate” and “out of line.” Rodgers added this Tuesday:
Aaron Rodgers on Sean Payton’s comments: “I think there was a lot of people that felt (he crossed the line). A lot of people were surprised by the comments. I didn’t like it at all. That’s why I said what I said. I have a lot of love for Nathaniel and I’ll always stand by him. I…
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) August 1, 2023
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(Photo: Rich Schultz / Getty Images)
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