Nathaniel Hackett speaks for first time since Sean Payton comments, says Payton broke a code
Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel spoke for the first time since the comments of Broncos head coach Sean Payton last week in an interview with USA Today. As many of you are well aware by now, Payton spoke with Jarrett Bell and commented on the Broncos from last season and laid plenty of blame on Hackett, saying he did “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
Hackett spoke to the media Tuesday to share his thoughts on Payton and how he felt the Broncos coach broke a code with his comments.
“Obviously, last week has been a very unique week, I think, for this organization,” Hackett said, via Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. “I’ve been involved in this business my whole life, 43 years. And as a coach, as a coach’s kid, we live in a glass house. We know that. We all live in different rooms. We have a key for it. And it’s one of those things that, there’s a code. There’s a way things are done in that house. This past week, it’s frustrating and it sucks. But we’re all susceptible to it.
“There are things you do, mistakes you make. It costs you time on the field, it costs you your job, all those things. And I own all of that stuff. I got no excuses. So I own all those things.”
Hackett isn’t making any excuses for what was a disastrous season in Denver, one that had high expectations after the team acquired quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seahawks for a package of picks and players, including two first-round picks, including what became the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft which became cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Hackett would go on to add he was very surprised with the comments of Payton, not just because of the comments, but the timing of them.
“It’s unfortunate that had to happen, the comments that were made,” Hackett said, via The Athletic. “But they did. I’ll tell you, I was more surprised they happened now, I was definitely expecting them in Week 5. I’m almost thankful that we got that out of the way, we all understand where certain people feel and think. You can always look at that silver lining and man, this organization, these players, the coaches, (Robert) Saleh, the entire organization … has been unbelievable. That’s something that’s just awesome. It brought our team together.
“Even old players I coached very recently, hearing them it makes you understand that you do this for a very specific reason, for the love of the game, for the love of teaching, for the love of watching people grow. There’s ups and downs. You never get too high, never get too low and you gotta love this stuff.”
When asked if he believed Payton broke a code with his comment, Hackett said “I do. I do.”
“And I just think within this glass house we all live in, it’s one of those things that’s very expected,” he added. “You knew it was going to happen, you knew he was going to handle it that way at some point. That was going on all last year, but now it is what it is. We all move on.
“There was some defensive guys that I don’t even know (on the Jets) that were coming up to me. I think that’s great. Heck, at first I thought something really bad had happened. I hadn’t heard anything until after I got off the practice field. Then you hear it and it’s just that and I think: ‘Oh it’s just that? We can deal with that.’”
Hackett added Payton has not called yet to apologize and does not expect such a call. “It is what it is. We move on,” he said. Perhaps now that Hackett has spoken, we can all move on from this story. At least until it inevitably pops up again in Week 5 when the Jets travel to Denver.
