Jets' Aaron Rodgers fires back at Broncos' Sean Payton for Nathaniel Hackett comments
The Week 5 game between the New York Jets and Denver Broncos is setting itself up to be must-see TV, all because Sean Payton decided to tear down the job of his predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett.
Thanks to Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, the story is not going away.
In an interview with NFL Network's Peter Schrager, Rodgers was asked about Payton's comments and his own relationship with Hackett, who is now the Jets offensive coordinator. Rodgers and Hackett previously worked together when Hackett was the offensive coordinator in Green Bay.
Rodgers did not hold back, passionately defending Hackett and calling him one of his favorite coaches he has ever had in the NFL.
He also took some pretty significant digs at Payton.
"It made me feel bad that someone who has 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," he said. "I thought it was out of line, inappropriate and I think he needs to keep my coach's names out of his mouth."
You can see the entire answer here.
You could feel Rodgers' contempt for Payton's comments kept growing, and the fire kept burning hotter and hotter.
There are a lot of opinions on why Payton did what he did, ranging from him trying to increase accountability and send a message within the Broncos organization to the point that Rodgers alluded to where Payton might be trying to remove some blame from himself if the season does not go well.
Whatever his actual motivation was there are two things that can be true here. The first is that he probably shouldn't have done it. The second is that it has provided some tremendous content for training camp and is going to make the head-to-head meeting a shockingly intriguing contest.
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