FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A year ago, Aaron Rodgers might’ve relished the chance to go against Sean Payton, to stand up for his friend (and offensive coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett after Payton trashed Hackett in the summer of 2023 .
Rodgers is no stranger to using external factors as motivation. The Packers angered him into back-to-back MVP seasons after they drafted Jordan Love . Even if Rodgers claims to not be online, he knows what people say about him.
Advertisement So try to imagine the furor he would’ve played with in 2023 when the Jets traveled to Denver, a couple months after Payton said Hackett’s performance as the Broncos head coach in 2022 was “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL .” Rodgers defended Hackett in training camp, but didn’t get a chance to avenge him in the game. Rodgers, of course, was out with his Achilles injury, but with Zach Wilson at quarterback the Jets rallied, beat the Broncos 31-21 and Hackett celebrated as if he’d won the Super Bowl.
OH MY, @ZachWilson to @GarrettWilson_V 🎯 #NYJvsDEN on CBS pic.twitter.com/zJE3PCsErO — New York Jets (@nyjets) October 8, 2023 A year later, Rodgers is getting his first shot at Payton — but Rodgers (if you believe him) doesn’t really care about those comments anymore.
“That’s old news,” Rodgers said. “We’ve all said things that we’d like to take back. Some things have been said and taken out of context, I’m sure, from time to time.
I honestly haven’t thou.