Sauce Gardner Says 'Hard Knocks' Was a Distraction for New York Jets

Sauce Gardner talked about some of the New York Jets distractions last year, and one that could happen this season.

Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Jets cornerbacks Sauce Gardner (left) and D.J. Reed (4) before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium. / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

When the New York Jets landed Aaron Rodgers, it almost guaranteed that the team was going to be on "Hard Knocks." The show allows fans to get a real look at an NFL team, but it does bring challenges to the players on the roster.

NFL players are used to having cameras in their faces all day. From reporters to their social media team, there's always something going on. However, "Hard Knocks" brings a different challenge, as it captures almost every second of what a team is doing.

The Jets didn't show as much as other teams have in the past, as many teams have shown players getting cut and much more. With Rodgers and new expectations, that was the focus for New York.

While it's an honor to be selected as the team to do it, Sauce Gardner said that it was a bit of a distraction. The Jets' superstar cornerback told Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic that it made them lose focus on the main goal of winning.

“Some of the stuff in the offseason with Aaron, with ‘Hard Knocks,’ I feel like we lost track of some things,” Gardner said. “When there’s a lot of cameras and a lot of stuff going on, you can lose track of the main thing. At the end of the day, we still got to win.”

Those distractions are gone for New York as they enter training camp, but there's another one on the horizon with Haason Reddick not showing up to training camp. Reddick is subject to $50,000 in fines for every day he skips, and no one in the organization knows when he plans to show up.

Reddick is looking for a new contract, something the front office hasn't been willing to hand out just yet. They offered him a contract, per reports, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

He's holding out, but according to Rosenblatt, the Jets don't plan to offer him a contract until he shows up.

"The Jets won’t agree to any sort of new deal with Reddick — whether that’s an extension or a restructure of some sort on his current contract — until he shows up to camp."

It's a tough situation to be in from their perspectives, as they likely want to see how he'd fit in with this team in the locker room and on the defensive end.

Hopefully, for both parties, this gets resolved soon, and unlike last offseason, New York can have no distractions.