Hard Knocks New York Jets: Season Preview

There's a lot of expectations on this football team. They're dangerous.

To achieve the results you want.

It doesn't happen on game day, it happens today with every breath you take.

This guy is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Push each other, make it hurt. It's time to rewrite our story.

Hello and welcome to the second season of The Hard Knocks Podcast. I am Dan Hanss, longtime Hard knocksscribe for NFL dot com and yes, long suffering Jets, been since nineteen eighty eight, and I'm joined by my lovely co host and a fellow Hard Knocks addict, Colleen Wolf.

Connie. We doing this again.

We're running it back.

I'm so excited for you, specifically because I get to watch you kind of live and die by this Hard Knock season with the Jets, and that's a whole different layer.

This is a whole new thing for me. I can't wait.

Yeah, I couldn't be more excited.

I've always loved this show, and when the rumors are percolating out there about it the Jets being involved with this season, especially after the arrival of Aaron Rodgers, it seemed too good to be true and now here we are. This is our episode previewing the five run episode of Hard Knocks starting on Tuesday, August eighth, focusing on the

All a little bit overwhelming for me, but it's not wrong, right.

I love it, Like they might not be the Super Bowl favorite, but pound for pound, just like storylines, juice, there's nobody like the Jets right now, which is just considering what the last decade or so has been like, it's pretty crazy how quickly change happens in the NFL.

This sets up so perfectly.

First of all, they could not buy publicity like this for the show that they've received over the last week, with all week and a half, I guess now with all of the Sean Payton and Nani pocket.

Fire like that is just such.

It's like catnip right now for me, and as a Jets fan, I can't even imagine. Because with the Eagles, when they started to get good the year that they won the Super Bowl, that's when I started kind of like feeling like everyone started talking about the Eagles more nationally.

There was buzz that it was right that they were getting it. They should have been getting all of that buzz.

But it's still to me felt so strange for the Eagles to be that team. And now I feel like with you, it's like the Jets right now, it's all anyone wants to talk about, and rightfully so, because of everything that's happened. Like Method Man was at training camp the other day when I was hosting ITC and I was in Pittsburgh and all I want to do was be with the Jets at method Man. That was my first ever concert I went to was Read and bo

At Jets Like.

It's just it's really it's gonna be such a good season for it to be in New York, for it to be around this team that has been, as you said, so downtrodden for so many years, and then to have the quarterback Aaron Rodgers there who love him or hate him, He's going to make people talk. And I've also done like a total one to eighty on him just from one SoundBite. So I can't wait to see how I feel from the beginning of this series until the end.

Wow, one SoundBite. Do you happen to have that one SoundBite?

You know what? I think we should take a listen to it.

This is Aaron Rodgers breaking down the huddle at camp the other day.

Aaron, what do you got for us? Faces?

Oh?

I got nothing Now. I'm just happy to be out here, excited to be with you guys. All I'm gonna say is this camp along camp right, Let's just enjoyed little things every single day. Take time to laugh a little bit, find a conversation on lifetime with somebody new.

Don't always say with the same group.

If you know your teammates a little bit, you know that's part of their leadership route that you just enjoyed. The little moments goes by fast and you get to be really old and gray and savoring every little moment. So saving them right now? Yeah, Q's one three, two three.

QoS Connie.

He seems Rogers this deep into his career after that incredible run with the Packers and then how it ended, he does seem revitalized and really excited to be kind of at the the focal point of this team. What is it about that clip that you kind of you were gravitating towards.

It's just sort of like I'm so used to hearing Aaron Rodgers with the media be just kind of stand office stand offish and kind of brush things off and maybe be a little arrogant about things. And that was just genuine and sincere to me, and the message of just enjoy the little moments. It goes by fast, savor every moment. I think for me, I just take anything that I use football as an analogy for everything in

Little window into what we don't normally see.

And I also loved that Nathaniel Hackett he threw to him, was like, Aaron, what do you got for.

Us, babe?

And that just it really, really really made me so happy to hear Hackett call Aaron Rodgers babe, Like.

That's it, yeah, yeah, the hacket of it all, And it really is a gift from the football gods, a gift from the NFL films gods that Sean Payton, Broncos head coach trashes Hackett and the previous regime in Denver. Hackett, of course, flamed out spectacularly in his didn't even make it through the last season with Russell Wilson at quarterback,

So the Jets don't get it twisted here.

The Jets very pointedly, after the disappointment of Zach Wilson in the past two years targeted Hackett, Yes, because he has a pedigree and has had success in his career before Denver, but also and especially because he's very close to Aaron Rodgers and what was part of a long, long period of courtship that led to the Jets landing Rogers. So for this show to start with the cameras, the crews at Jets camp right when Peyton gets a little loose and at a pocket with USA today, it was wonderful.

Well, I'm not going to acknowledge Sean on that is he you know, he's been the league while he can say whatever the hell he wants. But as far as you know what we have going on here, it's.

You know, the.

I kind of lived by a say, if you ain't got no haters, Rayam Popper, so hate away.

You know.

It's obviously we're doing something right if you've got to talk about us when we don't play until we've for and I'm good with it, you know. But uh, you know, the guys in our locker room, they've earned everything that's coming to him and.

Really excited about what's going on.

I think Hecket's doing a phenomenal job here him, the coaching staff is doing a.

Phenomenal job, and and we're focused on us. I get it.

There's a lot of external noise. There's a lot of people who are hating on us. There's a lot of people looking for us to field. There's a lot of crows.

Peckinget or neck. But all you can do is spread your wings, keep flying high until le's prost fall off and suffocating from the inability to breathe. It's all I apologizing him later.

Wait on a seconds, Wow, Robert Sala, he's going to be a star. I already know it. The if you ain't got no haters, then you ain't popping so hate away.

That needs to be someone needs to take like a wrap like bed and and and remix that for me, because that could be that could be huge.

But the way that he goes off at the end and all of.

A sudden, like they're flying and and crows are suffocating like that gave me a little bit of Dan Campbell vibes that I was not expecting, a little twist.

I love Robert Salah. This is gonna be such a good season.

Yeah, Sala was built for this. Dan Campbell, of course, the head coach of the Lions. We we chronicled that show last summer and it was a great season of hard knocks, which I think is also building into the anticipation for this year. Because I thought the Lion season kind of revitalized interest in this long running franchise in a lot of ways.

Yeah, it's it's it's great. I can't I can't wait.

To see how the the Jets as a whole kind of react to the cameras and how you see who who steps up and who becomes larger than life figures like a Jamal Williams or Deuce Staley last year, because you never know and and you know, along the lines of again, as a fan of the team, beyond just covering the sport, I think about what are the real line, the real life storylines to track that you could actually what is the news value potentially in having the Hard

Oh, that's going to be so so good.

I mean, the offensive line is going to get so much attention. That is that's like for me also number one. But I'm excited to see this group of wide receivers behind Garrett Wilson, like Mikol Hartman coming in and what like what does Randall Cobb and Alan Lazard? How where did they fit into the puzzle.

And it's just like it's.

So there's so many different ways you can go, and there's so many storylines. And I know that the Jets didn't want this and they publicly said it, but to me, that makes it even better.

Sure you lean into it at this point in other storylines, Dalvin Cook, as of this recording, is not a member.

Of the New York Jets, but he's been to camp.

He's taking selfies with fans, he's taken a physical with the team. That is a storyline set against the backdrop of Breece Hall, who I thought, you know, I know, Garrett Wilson won Rookie of the Year. I think if Bruce Hall doesn't blow out his knee last year in October, i think he wins Offensive Player of the Year Rookie of the Year in a walk. That's how incredible his rookie year was shaping up to be before that unfortunate injury.

He is the number two quarterback of the Jets. And to go from the face.

Of the franchise to the background with Aaron Rodgers and being the understudy, I'm just interested. I'd be interested to learn about Wilson and his journey because it's been it's very unusual, his path for as a numb number two overall pick and where he is now in just year three.

Yeah, and we're taping this on Thursday night of Hall of Fame weekend, so the Hall of Fame game is tonight. I'm in Canton, so I as soon as we're done recording this, I'm going to head over to the stadium. Zach Wilson is starting in the game, and I just want to get a feel for our Hard Knocks team, like I want to see them live.

I want to know what I'm just like excited for there.

To be a game, even though it doesn't really like count as a game, but it's going to feel like a game and that the Jets are there, like that's the only reason I'm going yeah.

And we'll get it. We got Rich Semini a ESPN.

I'm about to throw in an interview that I did with Rich a day ago, and we're going to touch on the Jets being again the center of everything right now in Canton, with the Hall of Fame inductions and then the game a lot to get to. In fact, why don't we do that, Why don't we throw it to my conversation with Rich Semini, longtime scribe covering the Jets, and then we'll we'll come back and we'll share some predictions and we'll say goodbye.

Stay right there, all.

Right, Welcome back to the Hard Knocks podcast preview of the New York Jets, second time on this illustrious program, And I could not have a better guest to talk about the Jets and the history of the team and the history of the team on Hard Knocks than the great Rich Sameni, who has covered this team since nineteen eighty nine.

That's longer than any beat writer in the history of the organization.

So when you want Jets history, if you want an idea of the pain of the franchise and perhaps a path to glory, Samini is the guy. Welcome Rich to the Hard Knocks Podcast.

Well, thank you, Dan Well. I had two words, Joe Walton, that was the first coach I covered. That gives you some semblance of perspective of where I'm coming from.

My goodness, you know, and thanks Rich for giving us some of your time here during the very busy summer.

You know.

Next stop for you, I know is Canton for the Hall of Fame game. That's a Jets game, and there's the Hall of Fame inductions of Darrell Reeves and Kleco, who you always pounded the table for Cleco as a man who deserved it, and he did and now he's going in the Jets.

And you know Rich better than anyway. And things changed quickly in pro football.

But the Jets are the hottest ticket in the sport right now, and now you got Hard Knocks coming up. This is kind of all wild, obviously with Rogers at the center of everything.

Yeah, I would say that it's probably the biggest buzz the buzziest time in Jet history that I've covered, at least, I mean in eight with Brett Favre. You know, it was pretty it was pretty wild. It was pretty hyped up there but that was that happened so fast. You know, he didn't get here until early August, and so that was like the accelerated buzz program. This has been kind of a gradual build really since March when Rogers came

Guess, which is bizarre because you know, we've been doing our around the NFL podcast. This is going into our eleventh season and that coincides with the longest dry stretcher of any team in North American sports in terms of the postseason. So for this team that this amount of buzz, there is an element of is Lucy going to take

He's quoting rap lyrics.

What was it if you if you ain't got no hatters, you ain't popping right?

Thank you, Robert, And all I could think is he's embracing this and he's not gonna say it because he's a big, you know, tough football guy and cameras are bad. But what better vehicle for a head coach in this league and head coaches have egos, it's not just the players than hard knocks, like this is a huge star making vehicle for Robert solid and I was happy to see that because it's clear and he had iHeart HK

Yeah, I mean, the just will be entertained. I think Aaron Rodgers is the most interesting guy in the NFL right now, So that'll be a huge storyline obviously in the first and many episodes. And yeah, the Jets pushed back. I mean they came out publicly and said we do not want to do Hard Knocks, and the NFL has the right to make anybody do it, and they I'm glad the NFL pushed back, you know, because no one wanted to see New Orleans or Chicago on Hard Knocks.

I would say Rich that you know my fandom is leaning and you know I'm a Jets fan and the twenty ten Hard Knocks and I wrote I basically covered the Hard Knocks beat for NFL dot com for ten years. This is the second year we're doing a podcast of it. I still don't think there was a better season than the Rex Ryan twenty ten season, which coincided with the Jets last playoff appearance. Gett into the AFC title game,

It's a little different. I mean back then Rex Ryan was completely unfiltered, you know. So with Rex he would say, he would say anything. And I don't think you're going to see as many F bombs in this year's Hard Knocks. Robert salad not curse. At least he doesn't around us. It's just not his thing. And I remember writing a story on Rex after the first episode. There were so many f bombs that he actually made a crack at a press conference that said, I got a call from

Cursing pipe downee all the time.

He said the league should look into it. Goodell, should you know, look into this? And I remember reaching out to the NFL for a comment and I got an email back from greg Iello, the PR guy at the time. I said, are you guys going to do anything? And he goes. He wrote back and he said, I think Rex's mother has already handled this, and so it became kind of a story about Rex's cursing. I'm pretty sure we're not going to have a cursing issue in this Hard Knocks.

Okay, that's good In terms of the key to a Hard Knock season is kind of the breakout stars, the charismatic guy. Sometimes they'll surprise you. It could be an undrafted free agent linebacker. It could be the second string running back, it could be a star in the team. Do you have any anybody that comes to mind as a player or maybe somebody from the coaching staff that jumps out as a potential hard knocks MVP.

We have a whole.

Voting system Colleen and I that we tabulate as the season goes along, like who should we be keeping an eye out on?

Odds wise, I think they're gonna try to make something out of Michael Clemens, their defensive end from Texas, A and M a second year player. He is a man of few words, but you saw him coming into training camp and the carrying that bat from you know, the barbed wire bat in So I think I think Clemens, even though he doesn't say a lot, you can make something out of it. He's a very intimidating guy. He's his body is just sculpted. So they could try to

Yeah.

I feel like there's a lot of meat on the bone with Hackett from a narrative standpoint, and then Peyton served up this like gorgeous meal on a platter for episode one, because you keep hearing and he hear it all the time for people on the outside, fans the coaches say, oh, Hackett makes it fun, but I never really you never really hear how he makes it fun.

So the opportunity here, I mean, this is a huge spot for Hackett too.

Who's who got a lifeline from the Jets, and let's face it, Rogers coming off what was Peyton was not wrong about that a disaster of the season, and I could definitely see him coming off very well on this show. We do have to get to the Rogers of it all, Rich, because let's frame it this way, eight years ago, Rich, I call you up, and you've always been very.

Nice and.

Sharing of your time, and I always appreciate it. But back in twenty fifteen, you were nice enough to grant me an interview for this write up series I was doing on NFL dot Com called The Pain Rankings. We talked about a supposed curse a Broadway Joe, and you said this to me, I don't really think it's a curse. They don't have a quarterback. If they have a quarterback, they wouldn't have this problem. The ownership has changed, the

All of the Jets, see, we got the ultimate battle set up here. It's Rogers versus the Curse. It's like two powerful forces going against each other. Who will prevail. Rogers has been great to deal with, you know, and obviously he's been trying really hard to be accommodating both public relations wise with the fans, you know, going to all those events around in you know, New York City, that Tony's, the Broadway shows, MSG and then even with the media, he's been fantastic. Just I mean, we have

I mean, between you and I and the people listening, is that man when you listen to him and you converse, is he for real?

Is he?

You know, full of it?

I don't know. If you as the Green Bay writers, they might say he's full of it, but you know they were around the guy for eighteen years, so I can understand the fatigue factor. I've never covered a player for eighteen years. God knows, no one on the Jets ever last that long. It's more of a revolving door situation. So I wouldn't know what that's like. But uh, he seems genuine to me. I don't know, Ask me again in a few months. You know when there's gonna there's

It is going to be a gold mine of storylines and a season that everyone should be excited about, Jets fans and otherwise. Rich Any Hard Knocks predictions before we say goodbye.

Well, I don't think you're gonna get the usual Hard Knocks conclusion where they're cutting players, you know, and the last episode or you know, leading up to that. I think the Jets are philosophically opposed to that, and I'm sure you know the reason, right Dan. I mean Joe Douglas when in the first Hard Knocks with the Baltimore Ravens way back in two thousand or two thousand and one, Joe Douglas was the poor SAP who got to walk around and tell players to bring their play.

He was the turk whoa I did not know that that was his first.

Job in the NFL. He was a low level personnel assistant basically right out of college, you know, and he was the guy so he got FaceTime on Hard Knocks, knocking on doors saying coach wants to see you bring me.

And it was ruthless in the early years of that show too, like they leaned into that that side of it for the dramatic effect obviously.

Yeah, So I remember talking to Joe in recent years and that I think that left some scars. He just hated doing that. So I would be surprised if we see that happening on Hard Knocks. I don't think the Jets are going to do that, and I can see why Joe Douglas would have some thoughts, some deep seated emotions from having done it himself. So I think you won't see that. That'll be my prediction. And here's a wild prediction. I mean, could they take a page out

Do they still go to Courtland? They don't go to Courtland anymore?

Right, No, there's no Courtland.

Fact, there's no Roscoe's Diner.

Then either there's no Roscoe which every time I stop at the Roscoe Diner on the way to Syracuse. SiO was I think tweet a photo, you know, because it brings back memories of that. But I'm just throwing that out there, Dan, Could there be a Dalvin Cook sighting in the last episode.

We'll find it and God knows Rich that there's no shortage of di in Jersey. To go have a pork roll and sign the Dodline.

Florm Park Diner right down the road.

Beautiful, Rich, thank you so much for your time. Busy time of year, exciting time of year for the Jets and their beat writers. I texted you privately that I just want to before we're all in the ground, I want to be at a Jets Super Bowl with my dad and my brother and Rich Semini covering it from the press box, and I will go up to you and I will shake your hand, sir, win, loser, draw, Well, there will be a winner or loser in that game, but I will be there with you.

Let's hope I get to cover something like that.

Beautiful.

Thank you, Rich, All right, see Dan?

There he goes Rich Samini that guy again.

Nineteen eighty nine, he started covering the team so he knows this squad well.

Yeah, he knows them well.

And for him to say that this is the buzziest time since he's been with the team since nineteen eighty nine really speaks to us.

Then I'm still on method.

Man.

I'm just like, still so heartbroken that I wasn't there that day, but I'm sorry about it.

It's really cool, But I will say, eminem, I don't know.

I don't know if Marshall Bathers is watching a lot of Lions games. Meta man's legit like he's from Staten Island, which is the home of many Jet fans, and he believes the season ticket holder. I like, if I'm going to see celebrity cameos on the sidelines for a buzzy team on Hard Knocks, make it the real ones. I don't want to see you guys pretending. Did you see Leev Schreiber, our boy, the longtime narrator of Hard Knocks.

I don't know actually, if they're going to share it.

In the premiere episode, Rogers meeting Schreiber who's Rogers is a big fan of Shreiber. Like, are we going to see that the first time you actually see Leave Schreiber on this program.

Pinch me.

Oh, I know, I know, And like, listen, Dan, you know that there's nothing I love more than the Summer of Connie.

It is my time to like truly unplug and let loose.

But having Hard Knocks and having this season of Hard Knocks to kind of have a smooth transition into the work season, into the grind that is the regular season, in playoffs and everything. This is the perfect kind of way to end Summer of Connie and begin whatever is next.

I love it beautiful. All right, let's get into last year.

We had a very we have a new producer, Eric Roberts, who's going to have to learn about our very detailed tabulation Connie of how we do voting on the Hard Knocks MVP.

I believe I believe Campbell won it last year, Is that correct?

Yes?

Yeah, very memory.

Deuice was Deuce Staley was right up there.

Who by the way, Dan, I sawd Staley at Panthers camp and I know he was like such a huge character on our show last year. And I know him from Philadelphia from covering the team and seeing him out about. But I didn't know that, like we were like all on that like friend level at this point. And he ran over to me and was like, oh my god, the Philadelphia queen and then gave me the best like coach pep talk I didn't even know that I needed in my life, like talking about my preparation, my approach,

Ryan's led a good one get away there. You got to keep de Deuce in the building. Now, I feel like we maybe should have had him on the show last year. I didn't realize you guys were on such tight.

Terms me either. It's great friends, but that I mean, Deuce is a perfect example.

I believe he was the was he He was an assistant coach in the running backs coach and he was a standout last year. And that's a nice transition listening, This is a pretty good way to transition. If you like how I do.

Anyway, hard knocks, MVP predictions. How about this?

Yes, another assistant coach. We mentioned him, Nathaniel Hackett.

All you hear.

And talked about a little bit with Rich just now. All you hear about is how fun he makes things.

I want to see it. I want to see what he does.

And I think this is a perfect platform for Hackett to show to kind of a little more career rehab for the guy and in addition to see what makes him different as a coach, because man, there's not too many coaches calling Aaron Rodgers babe.

There's a different vibe there.

Do you have a I'm gonna say he's my dark horse MVP pick Hackett offensive coordinator.

How about you?

Oh, I'm I'm completely with you on that, especially after listening to Nathaniel Hackett's response to Sean Payton, and he came off so likable.

He took the high road.

He's like, we all are in glasshouses and this guy is just trying to pick up the pieces his professional life and move on. And I just think that this is an opportunity, whether or not it's intentional. I think it's gonna be unintentional actually for Nathaniel Hackett to completely rebrand himself after this season.

But it's got it the favorite here, right, And I thought about Sauce because he's got he's larger than life ready after just his rookie season and how fantastic that was. But I think Sala is made for this, just like Campbell was made for this. I think he's really going to be a guy that's larger than life. I don't know how much we're going to see Aaron Rodgers on the show. If he's on it a lot, it's probably gonna you're gonna probably say he's the overall favorite for MVP.

I think that because I feel like Robert Sala is going to be the stronger, the strongest MVP candidate, but Hackett probably is going to appear the most, and because of our voting system, I think he's gonna end up like outscoring him Sala. But I think for me a dark horse, I'm gonna say I'm gonna go with sala.

I think, sala.

I'm on the spot, and you know what, No, Yeah, number one pick for MVP this year, it's going to be Nathaniel Hackett.

I'm gonna go with the hacket.

I'm gonna go with Hackett.

And then my dark horse, who we have not talked about yet is Mkole Hardman because he's there now and he has such a big personality I talked with I spent some time with him last year before training camp at a shoot with a couple soccer players for the international program, and he is so outgoing and bubbly and gregarious, like he can command attention for a room.

Also, his nickname is Jet I don't know if you know that, And so he's just when he was.

Yeah, So he has this like iced out Shane that says on It just feels like he's kind of made for the cameras and New York.

Yeah, all right, that's a good one. And I don't want to spook you about your hacket pick.

But remember last year when we did the Hard Knocks podcast of the Lions, we spent half the every episode being like, where's Ben Johnson?

He's mia the offensive coordinator.

And then the Lions had one of the best offenses in the league, and now all anybody could talk about is Ben Johnson. So will Hackett be if he gets the Ben Johnson treatment, We're going to be surprised against. But he's such a he's such a juicy narrative topic that I think it's going to be impossible to imagine him not having a big role. I have a fearless prediction. I don't know if you have one, kind of I don't want to put.

You on the spot, but let me let me hear yours.

Okay, my fearless prediction is you know the sad hard Knocks music, You know what I mean, that's sad Mkai becked in the former first round pick who they They've been so patient waiting for him. He's missed the past two years with injuries. He's had conditioned conditioning issues. There's been a lot of talk about whether he is invested in the way you need to be to be a star. The Jets kind of would love for him to be

That is my call.

Say it ain't so I don't want to see it, Dan, I'm not gonna. I'm not supporting this because I don't want it to be spoken into existing.

He's so talented.

I would love for him to have a great camp and that be a positive storyline. But I'll ask you a little net negative on that one. Rich Simini threw out there also Dalvin Cook famously, if you're a Jets and you remember the ending. A perfect ending to the Hard Knock season in twenty ten was Revus after his long holdout and as contentious as it was in this meeting at Roscoe Diner in upstate New York. The show ends with Revs coming onto the field and joining his

How about that.

That's great. I love these parallels too.

I mean the I totally forgot about that scene with Darrell Reevs walking on It was so dramatic, like this is. It's one of the best franchise is Hard Knocks in in sports, and because we're so starved for football, it hits at the exact right time during training camp, at least this first one.

It's going to be so good.

Dan, absolutely, I cannot wait.

It is the greatest sports docu series ever and they're not paying me to say that. I've always thought that that Hard Knocks is just different. It's wonderfully done. And then they have a great subject in the Jets this season. So we are amped to be back with today's episode and then five more to come starting Tuesday. And yes, we will have episodes up every Tuesday night on the night of airing. We'll have that to you, So please have that ready and follow along on the journey with us.

How about that.

Let's go the most compelling team in football till Tuesday.

Heed the call.