The latest piece of New York Jets drama revolves around recent comments made by former Jets wide receiver Mecole Hardman and an implication by Sauce Gardner that the Jets’ game plan against the Philadelphia Eagles was leaked.
Did Sauce Gardner Accuse Mecole Hardman of Leaking the New York Jets’ Game Plan?
In a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Gardner insisted that the Jets had their offensive game plan leaked ahead of their October game against the Eagles — a game in which the Jets won 20-14.
“We ain’t gon talk about how our offensive gameplan got leaked vs. the Eagles tho,” Gardner said in the post.
While he didn’t specifically mention Hardman, Gardner made his post immediately after Joe Douglas’ thoughts on the Hardman situation reached the timeline on X, suggesting that he was referring to Hardman.
If the Eagles did know New York’s plan of attack on offense going into the game, then it didn’t affect the outcome. The Jets only gained 244 yards but came out on top thanks to four forced turnovers. Jalen Hurts’ three interceptions tied his career high.
Gardner’s post hit on what was a larger issue internally for the Jets during their frustrating season.
A report from The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini, and Jeff Howe surfaced on Dec. 4 that quarterback Zach Wilson was “hesitant to step back into the [starting] role” with head coach Robert Saleh weighing another QB change. The following day, Jets star Aaron Rodgers railed against that narrative on The Pat McAfee Show and called out whoever leaked the story to the reporters.
“That’s a problem with the organization,” Rodgers said. “We need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately.”
Recently, Hardman stirred up controversy as he ripped the Jets’ use of him and team culture along with potentially admitting to tampering.
Hardman made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The Pivot Podcast, hosted by Ryan Clark, and dished on a variety of topics.
“I know what winning looks like. I know what winning is,” Hardman said.
“Y’all keep telling me certain things, I’m not going for that because y’all are not doing it right. We got helmets on the ground, we don’t got no discipline, people feel like it’s too many individual egos in this locker room. I’m telling them, that’s not gonna get y’all to win. It’s not going to happen.”
Hardman’s comments drew some ire from Jets punter Thomas Morstead, who tweeted a response.
“Be careful getting information from disgruntled former employees,” Morstead said. “Getting beat out by a rookie free agent after being guaranteed millions of dollars is tough to deal with. Entitlement is a killer of opportunity. You have to earn it every year.”
Later, Jets tight end Kenny Yeboah expressed approval of Morstead’s post and replied to a comment regarding Hardman.
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“He’s tripping out, he ain’t talk about his own work ethic and how the Georgia eagles got our game plan,” Yeboah said.
The Eagles have a plethora of players on their defense from Georgia, which is where Hardman went to college, so it appears Yeboah is suggesting Hardman leaked the Jets’ game plan to the fellow Georgia products on Philadelphia’s defense.
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