New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett enters Year 2 in Florham Park with weighty expectations following the offense's struggles last season after Aaron Rodgers went down in Week 1.
The embattled OC recently told The Official Jets Podcast that the second year of installing the offense allows him to dive deeper into the minutia of the scheme, which hopefully makes things more diverse.
"Anytime you're in a second-year offense, it's a completely different feel from when you first start," Hackett said, via the team's official website. "You're installing plays, you're installing alignments, and you're talking about guys just trying to understand what they're doing. Now you can really detail it up. You can talk about the intricacies of the route. You can experiment with new plays, new motions, all kinds of different, fun things. So it's been really good. I think the guys have really enjoyed it."
Losing Rodgers four snaps into the season last year sent things spiraling for Hackett and the Jets. The offense revolved around the veteran's ability to see something at the line of scrimmage and adjust to take advantage of the defense. When he went down, Gang Green looked lost, regardless of who was under center.
Hackett said that the lessons of last year continue to reverberate as the club prepares for training camp.
"There were a lot of things we had to do and there was a lot of adversity," Hackett said. "And I think adversity builds strength. And I think some of the experience the guys had, whether it was the young wide receivers, the offensive linemen who were just coming into the building and starting right away, it's great for being able to put on that game face and feel more confidence.
"And for us, you can't necessarily get excited yet. There's still a long way to go. Before that first game [Monday night Sept. 9 at San Francisco], you still have a lot of work to do. The guys got to get on the same page. We need to have some consistency. We are slowly getting closer and closer. I think that's when the excitement will build."
Health is vital for the Jets to take a leap forward in 2024 and end their string of 13 seasons without a playoff appearance. How Rodgers returns from the Achilles injury isn't the only issue to track during camp and early in the season. Receiver Mike Williams is also coming off a season-ending injury, and two veteran offensive tackles, Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses, have lengthy injury histories.
If Rodgers returns to form, a lot of pressure will be taken off Hackett's plate. However, if the four-time MVP isn't his field-tilting self or other injuries plague the offense, the heat will ratchet up on the OC.
