The day has finally arrived for the premiere of the latest edition of Hard Knocks, the HBO and NFL Films documentary series leading up to the regular season. Cameras have been situated in Florham Park, N.J. at New York Jets training camp to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the team’s preparation in the weeks leading up to the first snap. The Jets are one of the premier storylines in the National Football League this season thanks to the acquisition of superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the burgeoning core of explosive, young talent. Head coach Robert Saleh, entering his third year at the helm, will seek to lead the Jets to a Super Bowl championship and understands the increased levels of attention on the team.
The organization did not desire an appearance on the program; however, NFL rules and regulations allowed the league to force it upon them. Many football fans and pundits argue that the organization had the most compelling storyline out of the four eligible teams, and they are excited to watch them tonight at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on HBO and streaming on Max. Although the Jets are being spotlighted on the show, the team also has its own award-winning all-access series titled One Jets Drive, and the first episode premiered on the team’s digital channels last night.
“A friend of mine told me that it was going to be on, so I made it a point to get here early so I could watch a good portion of it,” Jerry Recco said on Tuesday’s edition of Boomer & Gio on WFAN. “…It’s around 40 minutes or so. The footage is outstanding to where I sit there and say, ‘What can Hard Knocks possibly do better?’ I’m sure they can, but I actually was left thinking before we get onto the football part of it, ‘Why do they have both?’”
Recco has filled in for Gregg Giannotti for the past two episodes of the morning show, which is also syndicated on CBS Sports Network. Co-host Boomer Esiason, a former quarterback who played three seasons with the Jets, replied and discussed the differences between team- and league-produced content. It all ultimately comes down to building a rapport with the fans and augmenting consumption of media content leading up to the season.
“I don’t think that coaches like Bill Belichick or Pete Carroll are going to allow as much access,” Esiason said. “They may do something on their websites to promote their teams; to promote their players [and] to engage the fans, which [what] this is all about – fan engagement. The Jets do a great job with it, and they have done a great job with it. Now on top of that comes Hard Knocks, so I would imagine that somebody had to be in there sitting watching both of these shows and editing out any sort of pertinent information that could lead you to think that a certain team is going to be doing it in a certain way.”
If Esiason was still playing in the NFL, he says that he would be listening for Aaron Rodgers’ snap count in anticipation of facing him in the regular season. He acknowledged how Rodgers, similar to Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, is a savvy veteran but has a distinctive way he goes about shouting the information. There are also other nuanced aspects of the game that he would be watching for while also gaining insight as to how a quarterback interacts with teammates. Recco referenced the opening scene of One Jets Drive where the team is breaking up after the end of organized team activities (OTAs) one month before the start of training camp.
“If I’m a young player on that team, and this is now Aaron Rodgers, who is a Super Bowl champion [and] an NFL MVP, and the message is coming from him – he’s talking about how there’s just one goal,” Recco said. “It’s not just making the playoffs; it’s winning a Super Bowl championship…. I would think if I’m a 23-year-old younger player, I’m taking that to heart and I can’t wait to get back to training camp when it starts in a month.”
Being in the presence of a perennial star quarterback in Rodgers, who is likely destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he retires, could expedite the development of Zach Wilson. The 24-year-old quarterback was the Jets’ starter for most of the last two seasons but lost his job after consistent struggles. Wilson ended the season with the sixth-highest interception percentage in the league, and other teams anticipated that he would lose the game for the Jets if they had the lead.
“[Rodgers] has all of that credibility in his back pocket; Zach Wilson has none,” Esiason said. “As a matter of fact, Zach Wilson basically ruined whatever credibility he had coming in as the second overall draft pick by his play on the field, so this is all part of the learning process for Zach Wilson, but he will never regain his teammates’ respect back until he does it on the field.”
