Aaron Rodgers shades Giants' Jihad Ward in tense 'Hard Knocks' exchange: 'Never heard of you'

6-8 minutes 8/30/2023
During the snap last Saturday before Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers capped his preseason cameo with a touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, Giants outside linebacker Jihad Ward poked “the bear.”
And Rodgers wasn’t thrilled.
As Rodgers drifted back during the first quarter of that game and completed a pass to Mecole Hardman, Ward kept rushing toward the quarterback (and “Hard Knocks” star, as the fourth episode of the HBO series depicted again Tuesday night) and shoved him.
So Rodgers pushed back. He asked Ward, “What the f–k is that?”
Then, Rodgers dropped a line he later called “un-comeback-able.”
“I’ve never heard of you,” Rodgers said during the episode.
In the penultimate episode of “Hard Knocks,” which has followed the Jets throughout training camp, Rodgers’ competitive side — an underlying element of his 10 Pro Bowls and four MVPs — has shone through.
That included at a Jets practice session and ultimately during their 32-24 preseason victory over the Giants, which resulted in plenty of f-bombs, a bit of genuine anger and a glimpse of a different side of the 39-year-old quarterback.
“I threw that ball and he f–king took five steps and pushed me,” Rodgers said while standing on the Jets’ sideline after the touchdown, as seen during the episode.
“I said, ‘I don’t even know who you are.’ And he said, ‘I don’t know who you are.’
“And I said, ‘Bulls–t.’”
Rodgers and Ward had the tense moment on the field during the final preseason game.
The episode captured lingering signs of the honeymoon phase that has defined the relationship between Rodgers and the Jets since he first declared his intention to play for them.
A young fan was shown telling Rodgers he shouldn’t retire soon, and Rodgers responded by asking why he’d want to do that.
He joked with Jets receiver and longtime Packers teammate Randall Cobb after Cobb was penalized for an illegal blindside block against the Giants.
Rodgers helped the first-team offense pass its first test against the Giants.
He threaded a ball to Wilson for a touchdown, exchanged words with Ward again and jogged over to the sideline to end his Jets debut.
“That quarterback’s pretty f–king good, buddy,” head coach Robert Saleh said, seemingly to someone at the other end of his headset, following the touchdown.
But earlier that week, during one of the Jets’ practices, the offense was struggling.
Rodgers tried to connect with tight end Jeremy Ruckert but watched as D.J. Reed helped break up the pass and the ball fell to the ground.
Rodgers’ next five words included two f-bombs. He yelled that the play should’ve been “f–king basic at 12-14 yards.” Once he reached the sideline, his anger continued.
“F–king dropped three f–king balls,” Rodgers said. “F–king three wrong routes and a f–king false start.”
Rodgers did have a frustrating moment in camp.
The next few minutes of the episode, though, captured another Rodgers trait: His ability to spark a stagnant offense.
He called Wilson into “my office,” explaining a route they should run.
When the offense went back on the field, Rodgers and Wilson connected on a pass across the middle, with Wilson wide open.
Allen Lazard also caught a deep TD throw.
“Show off,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett joked from the sideline, and everyone was content across the offense.
Rodgers’ fix had worked again.
A cruel reality
“Hard Knocks” chose to follow some of the Jets’ underdog stories throughout training camp, and that meant difficult endings for those that didn’t make the 53-man roster finalized Tuesday.
Jerome Kapp’s release — just a week after he went viral and attracted attention from Eminem — ended this week’s HBO episode. Tanzel Smith dealt with a shoulder injury that affected his wife in the stands, and his release didn’t even make it into the show. His motivational line to his fellow defensive linemen (how perfection isn’t attainable, but if the Jets chase it, they’ll find excellence along the way) and a scene where he cooked for teammates did, though.
Additional scenes about other cuts could appear in the final episode next week, too.
Cobb’s costly penalty
At the time, it didn’t have a significant impact. It was just a preseason game. It was the Jets’ first drive of the night, too.
But after Randall Cobb’s illegal blindside block penalty early in the Jets’ preseason game against the Giants, Aiyda, his wife, now expects another letter from the league detailing a fine.
Rodgers joked with Cobb, too, even as the wideout told teammates that he “blacked out” during the play and hadn’t needed to block someone like that in a long time.
Hackett’s Flowbee support
The topic of haircuts took over a Jets meeting with Rodgers early in the episode, and he revealed that he only has “certain people that can touch my hair.”
Then, Hackett introduced everyone to the concept of a Flowbee, which appeared to be a retro hair-cutting device.
He was thrilled, but others in the room appeared to miss the reference and were confused.
“A what?” Rodgers asked.
Then, the meeting room burst out in laughter as a video explaining the “precision haircuts” appeared on the screen.
The undrafted wide receiver bond
Undrafted wideouts Xavier Gipson and Jason Brownlee engaged in an intense battle of ping-pong, with up-downs — and the lingering threat of added pushups — at stake for the pair of receivers who both made the Jets’ 53-man roster out of training camp.
Brownlee attended Southern Miss. Gipson attended Stephen F. Austin.
And when Gipson won their ping-pong battle depicted in “Hard Knocks,” Brownlee started his up-downs.
They even compared hand size.
“They’ve gotten this kinda fun, jab-each-other competition going,” wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni said.