New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers to be Focus of Hard Knocks Show

When Aaron Rodgers became a New York Jet during the offseason, it rocked the NFL to its core. A future Hall of Fame inductee, often enigmatic, and a Super Bowl win to his name, Rodgers arrives in the Big Apple to help a squad that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010.

Everyone is curious to see what happens. With the Jets as the subject matter of this summer’s Hard Knocks, the public will get an early sneak peek of the action.

The season is a couple of months away, but you can check out our NFL Futures for some early action.

Aaron Rodgers and Jets Featured on Hard Knocks

Hard Knocks, an annual HBO and NFL collaboration dating back to 2001, is a documentary series that follows a team during its summer training camp, from practice, to team meetings, and even roster cuts. Given the show’s success, the NFL opted to produce an in-season version starting in 2021.

There are rules for how teams are selected. A franchise cannot have been the subject of a Hard Knocks season in 10 years and cannot have been a playoff participant in the previous two campaigns. Not many candidates were left for summer 2023, the Jets being one of them. Given the storylines surrounding the franchise and the characters on its roster, New York seemed like the perfect choice for quality entertainment.

It begins and ends with Aaron Rodgers. After spending his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, he adorns a different shade of green in 2023. His final seasons in Wisconsin were relatively successful, what with league MVP trophies piling up and high playoff seeding in the NFC. On the flip side, postseason wins became elusive and his attitude in front of the media, and reportedly behind the scenes, suggested a man who marches to the beat of his own drum, sometimes to the detriment of team chemistry.

Cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner is a rising star and has an abundance of personality, which should make for some fun moments. Former Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett, whose lone season in Colorado was a disaster, reunites with Rodgers after being an offensive coordinator in Green Bay.

Lest he get lost in the shuffle, remember Zach Wilson? Yes, the former first-round draft pick quarterback who was supposed to be the future in New York. He’s still there, only as Rodgers’ backup, understandably. What will their chemistry be like?

We’ll have to tune in to Hard Knocks to find out.