When was the last time you heard this NFL summer saw, "What a difference a year makes"?
Yet focusing on the Jets, their offense, especially their O-line, and coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the phrase has that ring of truth, not to mention a slightly eerie quality to it. What a difference, from a year ago almost to the week, when the Jets were headed to the same road locale, going up against the same NFC South opponent, that the past year has made.
"We go back and look at some of that stuff when we're trying to get ready for this ballgame coming up," Hackett told Jets reporters today after the team's walk-through and before flying to Charlotte, NC, to practice against and then play the Panthers. "And it's amazing to see the different faces, the different people. So first and foremost, I give so much credit to [general manager] Joe Douglas and [head coach] Robert Saleh.
"Weve had a lot of changes up there just from the people that we brought in, and they've been amazing additions," he added of the signings of LT Tyron Smith and LG John Simpson and the trade to get back RT Morgan Moses after a year away. "And it starts with just the people that they are and the way they practice, the way they push themselves, the way they work together."
The differences Hackett spoke of are stark compared to that year earlier. The Jets were headed to Carolina at that time, too, for a single combined practice with Carolina on Aug. 9 before playing also in Preseason Game 2, also at Bank of America Stadium, on Aug. 12.
And the health situation was already impacting the line, not in terms of new injuries but with three starters still rehabbing their various earlier injuries. Tackles Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton and guard Alijah Vera-Tucker were all on schedule for opening-night return against Buffalo. None was available during Panthers week.
And once the regular season began, the starters and backups began to fall. Brown started only the first two games, Vera-Tucker left for the season during Game 5, C Connor McGovern and dependable interior lineman Wes Schweitzer were gone in Game 7. Good men all, but their departures led to numbers that were difficult to overcome: 13 different starting OL combinations, 13 different starters, five players who started at two different positions during the course of the season.
In front of Aaron Rodgers' early injury vs. the Bills and four starting QB changes among the three remaining signal-callers, offensive inconsistency was inevitable. Additionally, Keith Carter was in his first season as Jets OL coach. As Saleh said before that Carolina game: "I have empathy for and understanding that it is going to take some time for them. But yeah, I'm a coach, I always wanted it yesterday."
Yesterday is now next year, and Hackett likes what he's seeing.
"Anytime you're in a second year, everybody understands Coach Carter, they understand me, they understand what we're looking for," Hackett said. "We can talk about the nuances, the details, and you see that in a lot of the game. And we've had some different people playing in different spots and we haven't skipped a beat."
It could be suggested that this summer stability has made Hackett's job easier after hearing from the fan and media critics for last year's sputtering offense. But Hackett is not one to whine or make excuses or finger-point, and for that he offered a tribute to his dad, Paul Hackett, the longtime NFL assistant and nine-year coordinator, including 2001-04 as the Jets' OC.
"Growing up in this profession with him as my father, seeing the things that he went through, how he responded to it, how he looked at it, understanding truth versus sometimes that's not what gets out there — I think that's what you have to focus on as a coach, and that's what he's always taught me," Hackett said. "He's probably one of the best ever to just let it roll off his back, so I try to do the same as he does."
But it doesn't hurt that he's got Rodgers again at QB — "He looks like he always has" — plus a potentially strong WR corps led by Garrett Wilson, plus a potentially dynamic run game headed by Breece Hall. But besides having the personality and the skill-position players, Hackett knows he's potentially got a starting front five of Smith, Simpson, Joe Tippman, Vera-Tucker and Moses up front to help this offense and this team get to where it wants to go.
"The guys just do such a great job working together and they enjoy playing together," he said before getting on the team bus to get to the team plane to get to Carolina a year later. "And I think that's what you're always looking for with that group upfront, those five."
