Nathaniel Hackett is entering his second season as the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator, but the team had some conversations this offseason about a new approach to offensive play-calling — and Aaron Rodgers was made aware.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was one of those coaches that the Jets talked to about possibly being part of the play-calling process, as reported on the first episode of The Athletic’s new NFL podcast, Scoop City.
Smith, who was fired as the Atlanta Falcons’ coach after last season, joined Pittsburgh in late January.
Hackett, the former Denver Broncos coach, ended last season under scrutiny after leading an offense that, after losing Rodgers just four snaps into the year to a torn Achilles, ranked 31st in yards per game, last in total touchdowns and third in turnovers. But he has had the backing of Rodgers, who also worked with Hackett for three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
“Well, you should trust me and I trust Nathaniel,” Rodgers said in an interview on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio in May. “So, to me, that’s end of story.
“There’s been a lot of BS that’s been said out there. There’s a lot of things that have gone on the last couple years that he’s dealt with that I think he’s handled very professionally. And at the end of the day, I think you gotta trust his and my working relationship and the conversations that we have. You gotta trust the staff.”
The Jets begin training camp next week, providing the next opportunity to see Rodgers in action. Rodgers won’t actually take his first hit since the Achilles injury until Week 1 (unless he plays in the preseason, which seems unlikely). The first real test of how Rodgers looks coming off his injury will come in joint practices against the Commanders, Panthers and/or Giants, though they won’t be allowed to hit the quarterback.
In the offseason practices that he did participate in, Rodgers showed his throwing ability and accuracy remains elite, and his chemistry was building with Garrett Wilson and Tyler Conklin in particular. But it was the minicamp sessions that he missed that got more attention.
The 40-year-old skipped practice the week of June 10 for a trip to Egypt. It was something he planned long before these practices, and something he alerted coach Robert Saleh to ahead of time. The organization knew he’d miss the entire week, even if many outside the building originally misunderstood it as a one-day absence. None if it came as a surprise to the front office or coaches, even though Saleh called it an “unexcused absence” during a news conference.
Rodgers went to Saleh after that to question why he would call it unexcused. According to Russini, the head coach and his quarterback ironed things out and “everyone’s great now.”
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