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While it’s devastating for Nathaniel Hackett to lose his offensive play-calling duties to Todd Downing, he’s now back in the position he was in with the Green Bay Packers, where he had a lot of success, as the conduit between Aaron Rodgers and the play-caller.
In Green Bay, he had the offensive coordinator title from 2019-21, but head coach Matt LaFleur actually called the plays.
In two of those three years, Rodgers won the league MVP award and became a huge fan of Hackett’s work.
Maybe Hackett is better at helping design game plans and working with quarterbacks than being a master chess player like a Kyle Shanahan.
And keep in mind, there are very few of those master chess players on game day. There are probably only a handful of them.
David Carr feels that Hackett was a terrific buffer between LaFleur and Rodgers, who sometimes butted heads.
“I think the one guy who was able to calm all that noise down was Hackett,” said Carr on NFL Network after the Jets hired Hackett in early 2023.
And Alan Lazard, a former Packer who signed with the Jets in March 2023, said about working under Hackett in Green Bay before the 2023 season:
“He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had in my life, school, football — he makes learning fun. Some of the best times in football, being with him and in the meeting rooms.”
So here is the point: Hackett seems to be very good during the week helping with game plans and in the meeting rooms teaching players, but perhaps isn’t always the best chess player on Sunday, where sequencing is so important and very few excel at it.
So now he’s back in his Green Bay role, where he contributed to Rodgers winning two MVPs, so maybe that will be good for him and the Jets . . .
Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel, who is kind of the new defensive coordinator with Jeff Ulbrich becoming the head coach, is an old-school coach.
In an era with a lot of sugar-coaching and pandering in the coaching world, he is a straight-shooter with his players.
I’ve watched him upclose in safety drills, and he’s got no filter.
What helps, is he’s got so much street cred with his players, not only playing safety in the NFL for eight years, but also coming from inner city Miami, one of 19 children – he’s walked a mile in the shoes of many NFL players.
Watching drills, the blunt assessment he gave his safeties when they came off the field in camp was impressive.
This guy is going to help Ulbrich up the accountability with the players.
He’s not one of these coaches who walks around worrying about offending players with harsh critiques.
Somebody actually made offensive line coach Keith Carter go to sensitivity training this off-season because he was too hard on players.
And you wonder why the offensive line is so undisciplined. Carter’s superpower was taken away – his fiery nature.
With guys like Ulbrich and Manuel now in more prominent roles, the days of sensitivity training are over, or at least on hold . . .
it looks like the Jets could get Morgan Moses (knee) back this week. That would be huge for them.
When talking about the protection issues up front the last two games, one issue not talked bout enough, has been forcing a college left tackle, to start at right tackle, early in his rookie career.
Not Olu Fashanu’s fault, but he’s still not comfortable at right tackle, and there have been some problems over there the last two weeks, so if they get Moses back, that should help fix some of the leaks . . .
Bills have three huge injuries which could have an impact on this game – starting running back James Cook (toe), star defensive tackle Ed Oliver (hamstring) and top receiver Khalil Shakir (ankle) didn’t practice Thursday or Friday, and all three are iffy for this game.
October 11, 2024
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