Sean Payton better watch his mouth.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers criticized the Denver Broncos head coach on Sunday for comments the Broncos coach made about Jets offensive coordinator and former Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett.
In an interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell last week, Payton slammed Hackett for the poor job done with the team last year. Hackett led the Broncos to a 5-12 season before his firing, leading Payton to say it “might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
Rodgers called Payton’s words “inappropriate” and “out of line” during an interview with NFL Network.
“I love Nathaniel Hackett. Those comments were very surprising,” Rodgers told Peter Schrager during an interview segment live from Jets training camp on NFL Network. “For a coach to do that to another coach. My love for Hackett goes deep. We had some great years together in Green Bay. [We] kept in touch. I love him and his family.
He’s an incredible family man, an incredible dad. And on the field, he’s arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL. Just his approach to it, how he makes it fun, how he cares about the guys—just how he goes about his business with respect, with leadership, with honesty, with integrity. It made me feel bad that someone who’s accomplished a lot in the league is 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. I thought it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coach’s name out of his mouth.”
Jets head coach Robert Saleh had a much more settled reaction to the comments, noting that “If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t popping.”
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Rodgers response is likely due to his longstanding relationship with Hackett. The two became close during their time with the Green Bay Packers, where Hackett worked as offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2021.
In 16 seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Payton helped guide the team to three NFC Championship games, nine playoff berths with seven division titles, and a victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
Payton has already apologized, but we will have to see what he has to say about Aaron Rodgers’ fiery comments.
