Aaron Rodgers: Broncos' Sean Payton Needs to Keep Hackett's 'Name Out of His Mouth'

It's safe to say the Week 5 matchup between the New York Jets and Denver Broncos will be appointment viewing.

First, new Broncos head coach Sean Payton turned heads when he commented on former Denver head coach and current Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett's performance last season with the AFC West team.

"Everybody's got a little stink on their hands," Payton said, per Jarrett Bell of USA Today. "It's not just Russell (Wilson). It was a (poor) offensive line. It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. That's how bad it was."

Rodgers, who is now the quarterback of the Jets and was previously under center with the Green Bay Packers when Hackett was the OC from 2019-21, said that Payton needs to "keep my coach's name out of his mouth" during an interview with Peter Schrager (h/t Mike Garafolo of NFL Network).

James Palmer of NFL Network shared Rodgers' full comments in which he said Hackett is "arguably my favorite coach I've ever had in the NFL" and called Payton "insecure" for his "out of line" comments:

Payton didn't stop with just Hackett, as he ripped the Jets' overall approach to the offseason:

"It doesn't happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed. And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time trying to win the offseason—the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.

"We're not doing any of that. The Jets did that this year. You watch. 'Hard Knocks,' all of it. I can see it coming. Remember when (former Washington owner) Dan Snyder put that Dream Team together? I was at the Giants (in 2000). I was a young coach. I thought, 'How are we going to compete with them? Deion's (Sanders) there now.' That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen…just put the work in."

For his part, Payton was apologetic in the aftermath of his comments. He explained that he shifted into the mode he was in as an analyst when he worked for Fox and regretted criticizing the Jets and Hackett:

New York head coach Robert Saleh wasn't as forceful as Rodgers but did tell reporters, "I'm not going to acknowledge Sean" while adding "if you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping. So hate away."

Jets offensive lineman Billy Turner was with the Broncos last season and took umbrage with Payton's comments that also targeted the offensive line:

While the bluntness of Payton's comments was surprising, Hackett's brief time as the head coach of the Broncos was anything but a success. He went 4-11 and was the subject of plenty of jokes when he was fired for his performance.

Wilson was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion on the Seattle Seahawks but struggled in his first season with Denver with 16 touchdown passes to 11 interceptions. He never seemed to click with Hackett, and the result was a disappointing season for the presumed contender.

Now Payton is under the spotlight as he attempts to turn things around following the team's 5-12 finish, and the spotlight got that much brighter thanks to his comments.

As for Rodgers, he won two of his four NFL MVPs when Hackett was his offensive coordinator. It wouldn't be a surprise if he uses the slights against his coach as even more motivation during his first season away from the Packers.