Live reaction and analysis as the NFL preseason slate begins in Canton, Ohio.
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Hall of Fame Game kickoff time, channel and game details
Jets’ Nathaniel Hackett says he’s frustrated with Sean Payton’s comments
Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said he’s frustrated with Broncos coach Sean Payton after Payton’s disparaging comments about Hackett’s one-year tenure as Denver’s coach in 2022. Here’s what you need to know:
- “There’s a code. There’s a way things are done,” Hackett said, adding that it was frustrating and “it sucks.” He expected some chatter to occur the week leading up to when the Jets will play the Broncos in Denver in Week 5, and he’s almost thankful the storyline is out of the way.
- Hackett said Payton hasn’t called to apologize. The Jets’ offensive coordinator added that he doesn’t expect a call even though Payton said he would call. “It is what it is. We move on,” Hackett said.
- In an interview with USA Today published last Thursday, Payton said he believed the work Hackett and his staff did with the 2022 Broncos “was one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
- Payton said he had “regret” for the comments the following day and that he still had his “Fox” hat on — a reference to his time as an analyst for the network last season — and not his coaching hat. He said he wished he had more “restraint” when assessing last year’s struggles for the Broncos under Hackett.
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Jets’ Nathaniel Hackett says he’s frustrated with Sean Payton’s comments: ‘There’s a code’
Jets optimism and concern: 10 talking points ahead of Hall of Fame Game
The New York Jets are through two weeks of training camp.
It has been an eventful two weeks, to say the least. But Thursday night, they’ll play in the Hall of Fame Game against the Cleveland Browns, the first time this season these players have gone against someone other than their own teammates.
Not many of the Jets’ most important players will actually play — namely, Aaron Rodgers will sit out — but some younger players with something to prove, like Zach Wilson and Mekhi Becton, will get in the game.
Before the first of four preseason games, this felt like a good place to reflect on what has happened in camp and look forward to what’s coming.
So, here are six reasons for optimism and four for concern.
Can the Browns make winning their new normal? There’s only one way to find out
While listening to Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam speak during their annual training camp state of the state address, I knew they’d continue to field questions about expectations, about Deshaun Watson and about the high stakes involved with the season ahead.
I knew that the Haslams would speak highly of Watson, express confidence in the people who head the Browns’ football operation and embrace any talk of high expectations without going into much specific detail. There’s a playbook here, and following it this year was nearly as simple as actually giving Nick Chubb the ball inside the 5-yard line.
After about 20 minutes, we got the answers we mostly expected. There were even a few chuckles. As the Haslams wandered back toward the Greenbrier Sports Performance Center and the rest of us headed for our laptops to dive further into their words, I was hit with a thought that I really haven’t spent much time pondering during my two-plus decades of covering the Browns and spending the early part of training camp wondering what twists, turns and five-alarm fires might be ahead.
What if the Browns have something resembling a normal season?
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Can the Browns make winning their new normal? There’s only one way to find out
