Fresh York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett might not be speaking about in need of to get revenge towards the Denver Broncos — who fired him 15 video games into his first season as head mentor in 2022 — of their later Age 5 matchup, however his gamers certain appear all in on doing so for him.

Jets heart Connor McGovern, who mentioned that the crew desires to aid Hackett get “some payback,” raved about his offensive coordinator.

“He got thrown under the bus — and then they tried to drag him under the bus,” McGovern advised ESPN Thursday. “We wanted to rally around him from the start. He’s such a good guy. I don’t know how you want to say this — the opportunity he has — but we want to make the most of him being our playcaller.

“He’s a fantastic mentor, insane impish, and he makes conferences in reality amusing and simple to be told. So, he’s without a doubt a man that you wish to have to play games parched for. Later to walk to a playground that was once dogging a man that’s so great and so just right at his activity, and for him to get thrown underneath the bus and dragged during the dust, you without a doubt need to play games that a lot more difficult.”

The Broncos entered the 2022 season with Hackett, a first-time head coach, and quarterback and nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson, who they acquired from the Seattle Seahawks for a king’s ransom in the offseason. They proceeded to go 4-11 before Hackett got the boot.

Hackett’s successor, former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, entered Denver with lofty expectations after it traded a first-round draft pick and swapped a second-rounder for a third-rounder to attain him. Payton then chose violence in July, saying that Hackett’s head-coaching stint with the Broncos “would possibly had been one of the most worst training jobs within the historical past of the NFL.”

One way or another, Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker thinks that Payton’s remarks add fuel to the fire for Sunday’s matchup.

“We rally at the back of Hack, regardless. I feel this month there could also be a tiny larger chip on one of the most guys’ shoulders simply since the feedback that have been made prior to,” Vera-Tucker told ESPN.

Prior to becoming Denver’s head coach, Hackett was the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers from 2019-21. Hackett’s relationship with future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers — who suffered a likely season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1 — played a role in him becoming New York’s offensive coordinator, and vice versa.

The Jets are coming off a brutal 23-20 home loss to the reigning Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs, who ran out the last 7:24 of the game after quarterback Zach Wilson had an untimely fumble. The loss dropped the Jets to 1-3. Meanwhile, the Broncos are coming off their first win of the season in dramatic fashion, as they overcame a 21-point second-half lead to beat the Chicago Bears.

The week earlier, Payton & Co. suffered a historic 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. That said, Wilson has been markedly better through four games this season, boasting a 106.7 passer rating (a 22.3-point jump from last season) and completing 67.4% of his passes (a 6.9% increase from last season).

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Which corner will Hackett and Payton be fighting out of this weekend (CC: Bruce Buffer)?

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