Sean Payton took a lot of heat for the comments he made about former Denver Broncos head coach and current New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. And Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the Jets in April, has a message for Payton who is the new Broncos head coach. While speaking with NFL+ on Sunday, Rodgers expressed his frustration with Payton who attacked Hackett for the job he did with the Broncos last season.
“It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year,” the Super Bowl champion quarterback said in a sit-down interview after practice, per ESPN. “I think it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth.”
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Payton recently spoke to USA Today and called Hacket’s run with the Broncos “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL” and said there were “20 dirty hands” around quarterback Russell Wilson, who was traded to the Broncos last year. Hackett was hired as the Broncos head coach last year after a successful run as offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers where he worked with Rodgers. Hackett led the Broncos to a 4-11 record before being fired by the team.
“We had some great years together in Green Bay,” Rodgers said in the interview. “[We] kept in touch. Love him and his family. He’s an incredible family man and an incredible dad. And on the field, he’s arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL. Just his approach to it. He makes it fun, how he cares about the guys, just how he goes about his business with respect, with leadership, with honesty, with integrity.”
Payton, who won a Super Bowl as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, apologized for his comments, “Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my FOX hat on and not my coaching hat on,” Payton told reporters on Friday, per NFL.com. “I said this to the team in a meeting yesterday, we’ve had a great offseason relative to that and I’ve been preaching that message, and here I am, the veteran, stepping in it. It was a learning experience for me, it was a mistake, obviously. I need a little bit more filter.”
