Nathaniel Hackett: Jets offense’s path back from woeful season ‘starts with me’

Nathaniel Hackett knows the numbers. He knows what the rankings are. He is aware of what they say about him and the Jets’ ever present offensive struggles. Hackett admitted those inconsistencies throughout the once hopeful season started with him. But he said he plans to fully reflect on everything after Sunday’s matchup against the Patriots.

“Right now, I’m getting ready for New England. I think that’s something that it’ll be great to evaluate everything,” he said before Thursday’s practice. “We’ve had so many changes. … We missed some opportunities, we’ve had some inconsistencies, and we’ve had self inflicted wounds and all those things we have to buckle down, and we have to fix those, and it starts with me.

So, I think it’ll be good to kind of sit back and reevaluate everything.” The 6 10 Jets are last in the league in touchdowns scored this season with 21, 17 by the offense (11 passing, six rushing) and also in passer rating (71.2). They are also just above the Giants in second to last for sacks allowed this season (63).

Of their 10 losses, in six the Jets scored 10 points or fewer, including a 30 0 blanking by the Dolphins on Dec. 17 . This year’s offense is comparable to the 2020 Adam Gase coached team, which went 2 14 in his last season with much less talent than the likes of Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. The 2020 Jets averaged 15.2 points per game with 26 touchdowns, and this year they’re averaging 15.7 points per game with 21 touchdowns.

Sign up for Inside the Jets by Brian Costello, a weekly Sports+ exclusive. Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Thank you Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! The squad three years ago had a slight edge in yards per game (299.9) compared to the 2023 team (297.8).

Despite the numbers, Woody Johnson confirmed Hackett, along with head coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas , will be back for the 2024 season. The decision, whether to appease Aaron Rodgers or not, showed some sort of confidence in the system that led to the team’s eighth straight losing season. Saleh demonstrated this in speaking of his trust in Hackett on Wednesday.

“Obviously, I’ve got a lot of faith in him,” Saleh said. “When you look at, and it’s going to be hard for people to recognize it, but starting with the Atlanta game. Through tape, seen a lot of improvement, and I’m not going to get into the stats. “We’ve had two 30 plus point games. I thought we moved the ball well against Cleveland [on Sunday], had a bad game against Miami [in Week 15].

I felt like the offense really took a step in the right direction against Atlanta [in Week 13]. I know the points weren’t there, but there was a lot of opportunity to be had in that game, but I do feel like we’ve gotten better, especially over this last half of the season. We’ve got a chance to finish strong.

We can get possibly three of our last five, and like I said, they’ve been getting better. “[Hackett has] adapted a lot over the past, I know it’s tough to [see with] the naked eye, but there’s been a lot of adaptation over the last half of the year with all the motions, and all the screens, and all the gadget plays.

I just got a lot of confidence in the way he relates to people, communicates with people, the energy that he’s kept throughout the season, despite all the adversity. I do have a lot of faith in him.” Hackett will likely have a boost of confidence next year with Rodgers at his side. It was with the four time MVP in Green Bay that Hackett had his most success.

As the Packers’ offensive coordinator in 2021, his team went 13 4 before losing in the divisional playoff round to the 49ers. In the previous two seasons Hackett guided the Packers’ offense to 13 3 seasons in 2019 and 2020 with playoff appearances. With more consistency at quarterback, along with a healed offensive line and more next season, Hackett may feel he’ll have what he needs to make a similar run.

“I think that in every single thing, you look in your past, the things that you’ve accomplished. I think that every year is so new, so different,” Hackett said when asked why fans should believe he is still the right man for the job. “This team, how its gonna finish this year, … who knows what it’s gonna look like next year.

It’s an accumulation of a lot of people and everybody together. “For me, I gotta evaluate myself. I do all the time and find out all the different things that I can do better to help us, and I owe it to the fans, to the organization. Whether it’s work hard or work more efficiently, … and make sure that we’re better.

We need to put a better product out there, and we all know that.”.