For the first time in 18 installments of preseason Hard Knocks, the team serving as the subject of the show doesn’t want to be. That dynamic will have an impact on the production.
Via SI.com, Adam Schefter of ESPN recently explained that the Jets will be more standoffish than the Hard Knocks team usually is.
“The Jets are not going to provide the level of cooperation that the Lions provided last year or that other teams have provided in other years,” Schefter said.
We’ve suggested that NFL Films and HBO should lean fully into the Jets’ reluctance, including within the show footage of meetings between producers and the Jets regarding the limits of access and other pressure points.
Schefter said something else regarding the 2023 show that, frankly, shows he hasn’t been watching much Hard Knocks in recent years.
“Hard Knocks will not be the same because they’re not going to be given the same access,” Schefter said. “The Jets don’t believe it’s humane to show players being released.”
It’s been more than a few years since Hard Knocks included footage of players being released. (I think that’s accurate; I don’t watch much of it, either.) So this year won’t be any different in that regard.
It will be different in other regards. Which might be enough to get me to watch it. For a change.
