Jets players are fond of sporting t-shirts that read “I Have Your Back.”
If there is one back they should have, on Sunday in Denver, it is the back belonging to offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
The Jets are 1-3 and will want to win this one for themselves and for their season aspirations, but they should want to win this one for their new offensive coordinator as well, the man Aaron Rodgers loves, the man whose reputation was disparaged by the Broncos head coach Sean Payton in a July interview for which he immediately apologized, but not to Hackett.
Win the Hackett Bowl, even if there will be no trophy to hoist afterward.
Back Hack.
“It definitely feels like an entire organization threw him under the bus,” Connor McGovern told The Post, “from the firing in the first place and then those comments. It’s not an easy job, and Hack’s such a great guy.
“I personally don’t need any extra motivation to go win a football game, but you definitely have your guy’s back, and want to do everything you can to make sure that you have Hack’s back.
“Anything you can do, if you feel like you need to do extra then do that, ’cause a guy like Hack you want to go fight for.”
Hackett took the high road on Thursday when the Payton questions came fast and furious at him.
“This game is about those guys out on that field,” Hackett said. “This game is not about me. It’s about me helping them during the week. I just want the guys to go out there and play a great game.”
This is what Zach Wilson and Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall & Friends can do for Nathaniel Hackett on Sunday:
Give him vindication by showing Payton up close and personal that he is a good coach, better suited to be an OC than a HC, and serving Payton a helping healing of humble pie as he struggles to field a competitive team in his first season with Russell Wilson and a defense on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ’85 Bears … and the 2023 Jets.
Payton saying that Hackett’s 4-11 record as a rookie Broncos coach “might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL” had Rodgers and the Jets rallying behind and around Hackett, who at the time called the remarks “unfortunate.”
But he was gratified by the internal support he received and said: “It brought our team together.”
Back Hack.
“He’s just such a great dude,” former Bronco McGovern said. “You can tell he puts it on the line every day. He’s bringing his best every day. He tries to make stuff fun, he tries to make sure that everything’s very understandable and easily coach’s, easily taught. This game can kinda grind you down, it can wear you out, and he comes in with a fire and a passion every day. He tries to keep it fun and really motivate guys. I think he’s an excellent motivator.”
The hiring of Hackett by the Jets proved instrumental in Rodgers’ decision to bag retirement and move on from the Packers. Hackett’s creativity and adaptability has been tested with Zach Wilson at the controls.
“I think absolutely we want to go get this win for this team, and for him, and for everybody involved,” Wilson said. “That drive doesn’t come from those comments necessarily with Hack, but just as an offense just wanting to do well and get better and win some games.”
Punter Thomas Morstead won a Super Bowl with Payton in New Orleans and executed the memorable onside kick to start the second half. “He’s extraordinarily demanding,” Morstead told The Post. “He knows how to get the best out of different people. He was kinda like a psychologist almost, he knew what to do and what to say to get the best out of people.”
His impressions of Hackett? “He’s been a phenomenal human being every interaction I’ve had with him,” Morstead said.
Morstead opted not to comment on Payton’s comments, “I’ll leave that to Coach,” he said.
Randall Cobb, who played for Hackett in Green Bay, didn’t care to comment on it, either. But when asked how he felt on a personal level about Hackett, Cobb said: “That’s my guy. I always got my guy’s back.”