Sauce Gardner has a lot to say about his former New York Jets teammate Mecole Hardman. Not the least of which is that the wide receiver is “ungrateful” for what the Jets did for him this past season.
Gardner appeared on The Pivot podcast, in part, to counter Hardman’s harsh criticism of the Jets on the same program two weeks ago.
Hardman signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Jets last offseason. However, he could barely get on the field as a receiver and lost out to undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson to be the team’s kick and punt returner.
The 26-year-old caught one pass for six yards in five games with the Jets before they traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs. He didn’t do much the rest of the season until the Super Bowl when he caught the game-winning TD in overtime.
“He balled out in the Super Bowl. … I’m happy for him,” Gardner stated on the podcast. “But I really feel like you can’t discredit the Jets, especially him, they sent you to a contender team, sent you back to the Chiefs and you just won the Super Bowl.
“So, I feel like that’s ungrateful. I feel like he shouldn’t have gone on there talking about the Jets because he could’ve just taken the high road. You won the Super Bowl and you had the game-winning catch.”
Sauce Gardner fires back at Mecole Hardman’s criticism of Jets
Hardman took veiled shots at the Jets’ standards and culture, especially on offense and particularly about offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets did a have miserable season on that side of the ball in 2023. But Hardman’s attacks irked Gardner.
“Coach [Robert] Saleh does a great job implementing the standard,” Gardner said. “It’s not no ego-driven program. I know Aaron [Rodgers] is here, Aaron works his butt off day-in, day-out. I know he mentioned helmets being on the ground. … I know if it was helmets on the ground, his was one of them on the ground.”
Sauce didn’t stop there.
“If you know what it takes to win, you’re going to make sure you let the team know,” Gardner said about Hardman, who now has three Super Bowl championships on his resume. “The reason he couldn’t do that is because he never could earn his stripes. He came to the facility and thought he had it made for him.
“If you know what it takes to win, you’re not going to go to practice and drop punts and then have excuses as to why you dropped them. You’re not going to go in a special teams meeting and get cussed out by a special teams coordinator. Certain things are not going to happen if you know what it takes to win.”
Gardner is not the only Jets player to be critical of Hardman. Veteran punter Thomas Morstead clapped back at Hardman on social media after the Super Bowl champ’s appearance on The Pivot.
And Jets general manager Joe Douglas also was not thrilled with Hardman stating he spoke to Chiefs GM Brett Veach and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, asking them to get him out of New York. That comment could still lead to tampering charges against the Chiefs.
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