Each year, HBO’s Hard Knocks gives football fans an inside look at one NFL franchise as they go through training camp and preseason, cutting down rosters from 90 to 53 players. Usually, teams aren’t itching to have media cameras placed in their facilities, which forces one team to participate in the annual TV series. This year, the New York Jets are on that short list of teams who may have no choice but to allow film crews into their world where millions of spectators can watch.
The NFL has a certain list of rules when it comes to selecting which teams can be forced to appear on Hard Knocks. Teams who have made the playoffs in either of the past two seasons, teams with first-year head coaches, and teams who have already been on the show in the past decade are all exempt from making another Hard Knocks appearance.
This year that narrows down the list of choices to just four teams. The Jets, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Commanders. While any other team could simply choose to step forward and say they’d like to be featured on Hard Knocks, this usually doesn’t happen. In fact, one of the four teams, the Bears, have already made it well-known that they have no interest in allowing film crews into their headquarters.
That means we could be set to witness Aaron Rodgers go through his first training camp in the Big Apple, seeing how Zach Wilson responds to taking a backseat while watching how Rodgers integrates himself with his new Jets teammates.
It sets a fascinating scene with the Jets hoping they have found the missing piece at the QB position. While the Jets still need to actually execute the trade for Rodgers, few anticipate the two sides failing to reach an agreement.
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