Report: Jets forced to be on "Hard Knocks"
Hide the women and children. Cancel any bets you placed on the Jets. Start doing your research on the 2024 NFL draft class. Start cutting out eye holes in paper bags that say, “Just End The Season” (are you still allowed to have paper bags in New York anymore?). It’s Robert Saleh’s worst fears come […]
Hide the women and children. Cancel any bets you placed on the Jets. Start doing your research on the 2024 NFL draft class. Start cutting out eye holes in paper bags that say, “Just End The Season” (are you still allowed to have paper bags in New York anymore?).
It’s Robert Saleh’s worst fears come to life. The Jets are going to be FORCED to do Hard Knocks according to reports. Everyone, start panicking.
Or take a deep breath and realize it is not going to be a big deal at all and rejoice that the NFL and HBO forced the correct team to be featured on the show.
The NFL setup guidelines around the eligibility for teams to essentially be forced to participate in Hard Knocks. The league can force teams that don’t meet one of their three guidelines to be the participant on the show.
The guidelines to exclude teams is those with a first-year head coach, teams that have secured a playoff berth in the past two seasons and teams that have appeared on Hard Knocks within the past 10 years. The Jets are one of four teams to not meet any of those criteria.
We stated earlier that the Jets should embrace being on the HBO docuseries this year. A few vocal members of the Jets organization stated their displeasure publicly about not wanting to be on the show.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh has made his stance clear on the idea of the Jets being featured on the series. “I know there are several teams that would love for ‘Hard Knocks’ to be in their building. We’re just not one of them,” Saleh said.
Count special teams captain Justin Hardee as someone who doesn’t want to let the HBO cameras in the building.
What’s the big deal? Why all the outrage?
The most commons answer is the word Hardee used in his tweet: “distraction”. So, let’s deal with that issue.
First off, the Jets have their own in-house training camp documentary series they put out on their website called “One Jets Drive”. So, the idea of being mic’d up or interviewed more or having cameras in meeting rooms is not new.
Secondly, the last time the Jets were on the series is also the last time they made the playoffs. Not only made the playoffs but went on to the AFC Championship game. If anything, Hard Knocks could be seen as a good omen for the team.
The Jets players and coaches can complain all they want about not wanting to be featured on the show, but you know who hasn’t said anything like that? Woody Johnson. You know why? Because he DOES want the spotlight. You don’t bring in a guy like Aaron Rodgers with all the other options available because you DON’T like the spotlight.
For Saleh and the players, spare us with the distraction talk. You are professionals. Good teams don’t try and build excuses early to try and justify failures later. This is the equivalent saying you have an early meeting to set yourself up for leaving someplace you don’t want to be early.
If Saleh really has a problem being on Hard Knocks, he could have prevented it by making the playoffs. The Jets are in the position they are in because of the failures of the organization over the last decade. To cry about it now with the mantra of “distraction” is childish.
For fans who claim, “nothing good can come from Hard Knocks,” where is the proof? Are we so used to being disappointed that we assume only bad can come from every decision (or forced decision in this case)?
Good teams don’t whine about distractions. Great teams galvanize around a common enemy, or a perceived slight, or an “us against the world” mentality.
Just last year Travis Kelce of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs said nobody thought the Chiefs could win it all in 2022. "Not one of y'all said the Chiefs were gonna take it home this year," Travis insisted. "Not a single one!” He was obviously way off base with the assertion, but it was a perceived slight that the Chiefs rallied around and wound up winning it all.
The point is, instead of complaining about what is unfair (like being on Hard Knocks against your will) or worrying about outside forces (like who picked who to win the Super Bowl or cameras at training camp) use it to galvanize a team towards a common goal. Everything else is just entertainment for the fans.
If the Jets underperform in 2023 it will not be because of Hard Knocks.
Featured Image via Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
