HBO released their second episode of “Hard Knocks” for the season featuring the New York Jets, and it did not disappoint.

The show, which was a constant hit in its early days, has become a little bit hit-or-miss the last few seasons depending on the coach and the storylines. The Jets season has set the ground running to be one of the best in recent years.

I tried something a little different while watching the first few episodes. I watched with a pen and paper and jotted down my thoughts as the episode progressed. I enjoyed it so I figure I’ll keep it going.

· The opening montage showing the Wilson footballs being blown up to the proper PSI is totally a shot at Tom Brady and you can’t convince me otherwise.

· Those who don’t know how delicious the bagels served at the Jets facility are truly missing out. I’ve never had them, but I know they are from New York/New Jersey and they are likely amazing. The Jets look like they have amazing food for their players. It might be small, but it goes a long way to keeping players happy.

· Zach Wilson has attached himself to Aaron Rodgers and it is exactly what he should be doing at this point. This is the best possible scenario for Wilson and the Jets. His stock will not be higher than it is with the Jets, so he should want to make it work in New York as much as possible.

· Rodgers yelling at coaches and players was refreshing. Coaches aren’t perfect and need to be held accountable too. He doesn’t belittle any one player but the unit as a whole. The Jets haven’t had a quarterback who could do that in a long time. And then he does something else no QB has done for the Jets in a long time. He teaches. He fixes the problem. It might have been savvy editing, but the mess up to teaching to success montage is ideal for how successful teams operate.

· Knowing the fate of Tanzel Smart made watching his party at home a little heartbreaking.

· Nathaniel Hackett stressing the importance of celebrating together is interesting. I would love to know if that truly matters. Does it bring teams closer or is it just another checklist item?

· Jason Brownlee is a guy who is very easy to root for. The guy has fought for everything and continues to fight every day. He was a zero star recruit out of high school and got no division one offers. Then goes the JUCO root and eventually transfers to Southern Miss where he led the team in receiving in every season he played. Then he went undrafted. The Jets got themselves a player in Brownlee.

· Same Tanzel Smart, I feel bad for Jerome Kapp.

· Underrated moment of the episode: when Ulbricht says they are going to finally put the starters out on the field and show the world what the Jets look like and Sauce Gardner can’t hide his smile. He knows what they are and what they can be.

· “Live Your Dreams” written on Kapp’s wrist as he plays in what he knows will likely be his last game for him for at least the year. The struggle some of these go through to stay in the game only to have the realization that this is as far as they go is truly heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what that must feel like.

· For those of you who don’t know, Bob Wischusen, the Jets play by play guy on radio, is one of the best in the business.

· After seeing it again, the Randall Cobb hit that got called for a penalty was football and it should not have been a flag (by the rules it is, but it shouldn’t be a rule)

· Aaron Rodgers yelling “don’t poke the bear” after a beautiful touchdown pass is his mentality in all things.

· “I don’t even know who you are” is amazing trash talk to some player who thinks they are king sh*t of turd mountain.

· Someone told Rodgers after the touchdown “you are so f’in good” and it was how Jets fans felt at that moment.

· The Tanzel Smart stuff continues to pull at my heart strings. Knowing he doesn’t make the team while watching him give it his all is heartbreaking. His line “I deserve to play with you all” to Quinnen Williams and JFM is true that he deserves a shot, but not at the expense of one of the players they kept over him. Smart could be a good rotational player on probably 20 other teams.

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As we get ready for the final episode of “Hard Knocks” of the season, I wonder how they fill the hour without showing players get cut. They really didn’t do too much this season in building anticipation towards fringe roster players, so there isn’t much to watch there. Can’t wait for the finale on Tuesday.

There’s a lot of interesting things from the Jets third episode of Hard Knocks

HBO released their second episode of “Hard Knocks” for the season featuring the New York Jets, and it did not disappoint. The show, which was a constant hit in its early days, has become a little bit hit-or-miss the last few seasons depending on the coach and the storylines. The Jets season has set the […]

Featured image via Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK