Getty Image / Rich Schultz
Last week, New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett found himself as the target of some pretty harsh criticism from the man that replaced him as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
Sean Payton described last year’s Broncos season as one of the worst coaching jobs in history.
In response to the comment, multiple people within the Jets organization have spoke out about Payton’s comments.
Robert Saleh commented on them.
Aaron Rodgers shared his support for his offensive coordinator.
Allen Lazard even showed support while also revealing that Hackett has his players make animal noises.
One person we hadn’t heard from coming into today was Hackett himself.
Now he has finally commented on what Payton had to say.
Nathaniel Hackett told the media that he was expecting something like this and that he’s actually just glad Payton said it now instead of during Week 5 as the Jets now won’t have to worry about it in the lead up to the game.
Nathaniel Hackett responds to Sean Payton's comments:
"There's a code and there's a way things are done in that house. This past week, it's frustrating and it sucks. We're all susceptible to it." pic.twitter.com/aYvMM4HtoB
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) August 1, 2023
“I was probably more surprised that they happened now,” Hackett said. “Was definitely expecting them in Week Five. Almost thankful we got that out of the way, understand the way certain people feel and think.”
Even with the comments being made months ahead of the Week 5 matchup between the New York Jets and Denver Broncos, this will surely be a topic of conversation as the two teams are preparing for that game.
These comments already have some bad blood brewing between a pair of AFC teams that have made major changes this offseason and are hoping to make a playoff run. Even with Sean Payton sharing his criticism in July, they’ll still make good bulletin board material in October.