Hard Knocks could place stress on relationship between Jets, Aaron Rodgers
There are plenty of reasons for any team to not want to be the subject of the preseason Hard Knocks series. There’s one specific additional reason for the Jets to be leery about being the focal point of the show in 2023.
The team that gets the Hard Knocks assignment has final say over the footage that makes it onto HBO. But this doesn’t mean the authority over the official content is always properly exercised. The last time the Jets did the show, in 2010, the Jets authorized the use of a clip in which cornerback Antonio Cromartie struggled to recite the names of his children . (Cromartie claimed producers asked him to pause .) In 2018, the Browns included footage of a tense exchange between coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley regarding whether to give veteran players rest during practice. Jackson thought it made him look good. It did not.
For the Jets, new quarterback Aaron Rodgers would become a focal point of the cameras and microphones, if the Jets receive the assignment to do the show. And if the Jets make a bad decision regarding a Rodgers-related snippet that gets included, the Jets might have to answer to Rodgers for it.
Presumably, the Jets will know the things Rodgers does and doesn’t want to be included in the broadcast. But what if they guess wrong? Rodgers could end up being unnecessarily miffed, over something that was completely avoidable.
The best move, if the Jets end up being the Hard Knocks team, could be for the Jets to let Rodgers watch the rough cut — and to exercise full veto power directly over anything he has said that social media could and would use against him.
Source: NBC Sports
