Jets coach Robert Saleh shows there's no hard feelings toward 'Hard Knocks' with custom shirt
Head Coach Robert Saleh of the Jets speaks to the media during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on July 20, 2023 . Credit: Getty Images/Mike Stobe
Robert Saleh’s first message of training camp wasn’t spoken. It was worn.
The Jets head coach came to his initial press conference of the summer on Thursday wearing a black shirt with the words “I (heart) HK” printed on it, a nod to the “Hard Knocks” production crew that will be chronicling the team for the next few weeks, and doing so mostly against the Jets’ wishes.
It may have been a heart to say “love” only because there is no simple emoji for “grudgingly tolerate.”
“We’re fine,” Saleh, who was publicly outspoken against being on the show in the spring, said of coming to grips with the grips … and various other technicians who are producing the series for HBO. “We’ve been doing ‘1 Jets Drive’ the last couple of years,” he added regarding the Jets’ in-house online version of the reality show that is a football season. “Just talking with ‘Hard Knocks,’ they have a great group of people who are working with us. We expressed some of our concerns, they answered it.”
One of the biggest issues the Jets have regards the filming of players getting cut, long a staple of the program. That reportedly won’t be part of this year’s episodes. There will be other editorial matters and limits negotiated, too. During the first practice on Thursday, though, the filming was at times intrusive. At one point defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was having a sideline conversation with two players and looked up to spot a boom microphone hovering above his head.
The first episode of this season’s show premiers on Aug. 8.
The Jets were forced to participate in the show because they were one of four teams that met the criteria – teams that have a first-year head coach or made the playoffs the previous season are exempt – and they are by far one of the most compelling storylines in the NFL this season. Most of that last part is due to the presence of Aaron Rodgers, who last week complained that participation on the show was “forced down our throats.”
On Thursday, Rodgers, like Saleh, seemed more at peace with the omnipresent cameras and microphones.
“We knew they really wanted us to be a part of ‘Hard Knocks,’” the quarterback said. “This just brings more attention to us. I don’t think there is anything nefarious about the way it went down, but I’m excited about people getting to see what we’re all about here.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
