Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is not shying away from high expectations for the 2024 season.
“I feel like we can win a championship, a Super Bowl,” Gardner said. “We’ve got the guys. We’ve got the coaches. We’ve got everything we need. The training staff, everything that it takes for us to be able to get to where we want to get to.”
Gardner said he felt the same way entering last season.
Those high hopes ended in Week 1 when Aaron Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon.
But those hopes are now back with a healthy Rodgers and what the Jets hope is an improved roster.
Coach Robert Saleh is unfazed by a schedule that includes six prime-time games in the first 11 weeks of the season.
“No reaction. You take them as they come,” he said. “The schedule comes out, every team has things on their schedule that they have to deal with. We’ve got some things we’re excited to deal with.”
Saleh had said in March he hoped the team could be more under the radar this year.
With all these prime-time games, that is not happening.
“It’s New York,” Saleh said. “There’s always going to be excitement. It’s awesome that we’re looked at in that light. At the same time, none of it matters unless we focus on the process and going day-to-day and trying to be the best we can.”
There have been reports that the Jets tried to hire someone above offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett this offseason.
Saleh declined to address the latest report, referring to comments he made in March that it was not true.
Hackett said he feels Saleh has faith in him and that he was involved in all of the interviews of potential coaching candidates on offense.
“This is what I would tell you,” Hackett said. “I don’t know what those reports are, and I don’t know where their sources came from. I know what happened with us. It was great. We had a lot of conversations. We got to talk to a lot of different people. It’s that simple. It’s already been addressed.”
Notable absences at Tuesday’s OTA: RB Breece Hall, DT Quinnen Williams, DE Haason Reddick and DT Javon Kinlaw. These are voluntary practices. … OT Morgan Moses, G Alijah Vera-Tucker, G John Simpson and DT Leki Foto were working on a side field with trainers.
