Aaron Rodgers Fires Back at Sean Payton Over Nathaniel Hackett Criticism

The quarterback called Payton “insecure” for his comments.

In response to Sean Payton’s criticism of the 2022 Broncos, when the head coach said that Nathanial Hackett was responsible for “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL” last season with Denver, Aaron Rodgers fiercely defended the Jets offensive coordinator.

In an interview with NFL Network’s Peter Schrager, Rodgers addressed Payton’s decision to criticize Hackett.

“Those comments were very surprising, for a coach to do that to another coach,” Rodgers said. “It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they had to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall.”

Rodgers ended his comments with a strong statement toward Payton.

“I thought it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth,” Rodgers said.

In the interview, Rodgers explained why he believes so much in Hackett, something he has publicized in the past.

“He’s arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL,” Rodgers said. “His approach to it, how he makes it fun, how he cares about the guys, just how he goes about his business.”

“He (Hackett) is arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL. I thought it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth.” - ⁦@AaronRodgers12⁩ to me on Sean Payton’s quotes ⁦@nflnetwork⁩ ⁦@NFL⁩ pic.twitter.com/f7Aur2WgMc

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) July 30, 2023

Payton called out Hackett in an interview where the new Broncos head coach discussed what type of team he was taking over from last year. Last season, the Broncos went 5-12 despite high expectations, as Hackett was fired before the end of the year and Russell Wilson had the worst season of his career.

“But everybody’s got a little stink on their hands. It’s not just Russell,” Payton told USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. “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.”

While Jets head coach Robert Saleh chose to ignore Payton’s comments, saying the veteran coach can “he can say whatever the hell he wants,” Rodgers chose a different approach.

The Jets and Broncos will play each other in Week 5, a game that has gotten significantly more interesting in the past week.