Part I: The Honeymoon Phase is Over
It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?
Trade for Aaron Rodgers, do Hard Knocks, all eyes on the New York Jets – the NFL’s franchise on the rise.
Then of course, Rodgers goes down in the blink of an eye, Zach Wilson steps under center and all hell breaks loose.
On the bright side, the Jets pulled out a hard-fought victory over the division-rival Bills in their season opener, but then the s**t hit the fan in Week 2 at the Cowboys. No one really expected the Jets to win, but I don’t think they were expecting the mayhem that ensued, following New York’s ugly 30-10 loss to Mike McCarthy, Micah Parsons and the ‘Boys.
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Part II: Sauce Gardner Deletes His X (formerly Twitter) Account
Sauce Gardner, supposedly one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, got roasted by Stefon Diggs in Week 1 vs. Buffalo. Things didn’t get any better in game 2 when CeeDee Lamb ate him for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was an assassination.
To make matters worse, when the Jets actually had a chance to stay in the game, Sauce dropped an easy pick-six which would have put the Jets in a great position going forward.
Where’s the proof in the pudding? Sauce did an awful lot of talking this offseason – especially on Hard Knocks when he was covering a second-string wide receiver – but I don’t see him backing it up on the field. I just see Diggs and Lamb running wide-open all day.
To make matters worse, as fans on X pointed out the obvious (Sauce got OWNED), Gardner then decided to delete his account after the loss.
Seriously? You can’t take fans just telling you the truth? Sauce played terribly two weeks in a row. The facts are the facts. Grow up, man.
The deletion of his account was petty, and it shows a blatant lack of both confidence and professionalism. Sauce is supposed to be a leader on this team, but I’m just not seeing that come to fruition.
Part III: Breece Hall Complains About His Touches on X
The X party didn’t stop with Sauce!
Explosive running back Breece Hall also took to Elon Musk’s social media platform, posting four football emojis to signify his amount of carries in the Jets’ loss to the Cowboys.
Now this one, at the very least, I can understand. The Jets’ offensive game plan – led by OC Nathaniel Hackett (one of the worst coaches in the NFL) and HC Robert Saleh (one of the most overrated coaches in the league) – was a joke from the get-go. Didn’t everybody in the world know they were going to play conservatively with Wilson under center? That’s exactly why you can’t do that, and you have to come out aggressive, taking some shots down the field. Also, as Hall pointed out, you have to ride him and specifically give him more touches in all manners possible.
BUT… you can’t take your complaints to social media like Elijah Moore, who eventually got exiled by the Jets. Do these guys have short-term memory or something? It’s just wrong. The team is 1-1, not 1-15. You can’t go to social media and complain after one measly loss. You need to take that in-house to your head coach and offensive coordinator.
In the end, Sauce Gardner is lacking professionalism. Breece Hall is in the same boat. Week 2, all the way around, was a complete and utter disaster for Saleh’s squad.
With two weeks in the books, New York is fully back to being the ‘same old Jets.’
John Frascella is a published sports author who has been covering the NFL for 19 years. Follow him on X @LegendSports7 for all things NFL, NBA and MLB throughout the year.
