As if one game for the Jets needed more popcorn wasn’t enough, now the Jets have two such games. First, it was Jets-Broncos following the Sean Payton-Nathaniel Hackett story and now it’s Jets-Giants thanks to the budding feud between Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Giants linebacker Jihad Ward.
On Tuesday’s episode of Hard Knocks, one of the scenes was from the Jets-Giants preseason game in which Ward shoved Rodgers after a throw and Rodgers responding “That’s (expletive), bro” and “Show some respect.”
Aaron Rodgers still has some fire left 🔥 @AaronRodgers12#HardKnocks now streaming on @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/bXwR0U6gyI
— NFL (@NFL) August 30, 2023
Ward responded this week by saying the clip didn’t tell the whole story and he wasn’t happy with how he was portrayed. He also went on to say he believed the Jets, including Rodgers and wide receiver Randall Cobb, were laughing after Cobb hit Giants safety Bobby McCain, a hit that put McCain in the concussion protocol.
“They know what they did. I know what [Cobb] did, coaches know what he did, my teammates know what he did,” Ward said, via ESPN.com . “I’m the only one sticking up for [McCain].” (H/T John Breech of CBS Sports)
Rodgers responded Friday, calling out Ward for fabricating the story.
“So he thought we were laughing at his teammate? That never happened and I think he’s making (expletive) up,” Rodgers said, via the New York Post.
Rodgers and the Jets will meet the Giants at “JetLife Stadium”, as Rodgers called it, on October 29. The battle for East Rutherford just got that much spicier.