Jets Coach Tries To Downplay Team's 'Hard Knocks' Complaints

new york jets head coach robert saleh at training camp

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Without any team in the league volunteering, the NFL was forced to choose a franchise to be the subject of the HBO documentary Hard Knocks. And perhaps unsurprisingly, they ultimately decided on the New York Jets.

Given that the Jets are both in the country’s biggest media market and recently acquired a controversial, aging, future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, their selection as their year’s Hard Knocks team seems obvious.

Plus, the team didn’t meet any of the criteria which would allow them to opt-out, which is: if they have a first-year head coach, reached the playoffs in the previous two seasons, or appeared on the show in the past decade.

The Jets, though, obviously weren’t thrilled with the decision, as Rodgers said it’s being “shoved down their throats” while ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the training camp-focused docuseries will be different than previous seasons because the Jets would be restricting the access of HBO’s camera crews.

Speaking to the media at the start of training camp this week, however, head coach Robert Saleh — who heads into his third season as Jets head coach with the weight of Super Bowl expectations on his shoulders — downplayed the team’s apparent gripes and said “it’s gonna be fine.”

“We’re fine. We’ve been doing One Jets Drive for the last couple of years. Just talking with Hard Knocks, they’ve got a great group of people that are working with us and we expressed some of our concerns. They answered it and it’s gonna be fine. It’s no different than One Jets Drive,” Saleh said.