Jordan RaananESPN staff writer4 minutes to read
New York Giants defensive end Jehad Ward didn’t like the way his interaction with New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was portrayed on “Hard Knocks,” saying his actions stemmed from disgust at the Jets wide receiver’s illegal blocking. Randall Cobb, who left Giants safety Bobby. McCain suffered a concussion, and the Jets responded comprehensively to the situation.
The song “Hard Knocks” showed Jets players laughing in the huddle after Rodgers called out Cobb for a blindside block.
“Everyone’s going to be mad about that. The whole team was mad, you know what I’m saying?” Ward said. “It’s pre-season and all this stuff, and you’re going to make some reactions like that?
“It’s great, though. That’s the way they go. I think we’ll be playing them soon, that’s how it is.”
This paves the way for crosstown competition to heat up once again. Nothing has been the same since Rex Ryan and the Jets tried to take over the city over a decade ago.
The Giants and Jets meet again on October 29 at MetLife Stadium. It’s the team with all the preseason hype, the Jets, playing against a team that made the playoffs last season but has somehow flown under the national radar this summer.
“They know what they did. I know what.” [Cobb] “He didn’t do it, the coaches know what he did, my teammates know what he did,” Ward said. [McCain]”.
McCain was in the concussion protocol this week.
Ward waited to speak until Wednesday afternoon after practice. After Friday night’s preseason game, he politely declined to go into detail about his dealings with Rodgers.
He wanted to see what Rodgers said first.
“I kind of bumped into him too. Wait for the big hits,” Rodgers said after the game. “Some good content.”
Ward gave Rodgers a slight boost at the end of the play in the first quarter on a Cobb block. The two can be seen tweeting face to face. After Rodgers threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Wilson on the next play, the two exchanged words again.
Tuesday night’s “Hard Knocks” showed clips of Rodgers telling Ward he didn’t even know who he was. After Rodgers’ pass, they showed him yelling, among other things, “Don’t poke the bear!”
Ward is entering his eighth professional season and played significant snaps last season when the Giants beat Rodgers and his former team, the Green Bay Packers, in London. He didn’t seem to appreciate the way the scene was cut in the TV show.
“Look, the thing is, they’re going to entertain. They’re going to show his role — HBO, whatever stuff is going on, ‘Hard Knocks.'” They’re going to show his role. They weren’t even in the full scenario of what actually happened. They will show his side of the story. …It’s all about Aaron Rodgers [end] from today. They signed it, it is what it is. They’ll show him the role and make me look like a fool. But I won’t do that.”
What is Ward’s side of the story?
“My side of the story is that I won’t allow any of my teammates to go down like that,” he said. “I’m going to go ride my teammates.”
Rodgers was seen on “Hard Knocks” attacking Cobb for the illegal block, sending McClain flying and giving the Jets a 15-yard penalty. He knew immediately that this was not good.
“I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been around Randall Cobb for a long time. We talk about smart players and doing smart things on the field. I don’t know what was behind it. I was watching it in slow motion, ‘No, no, no Kobe, what are you doing?’ “ Rodgers said after the game. “We were laughing because it wasn’t a penalty when we started playing. It was a penalty a while ago. So, it wasn’t the smartest play.
“I said, ‘Bro, you have a third baby on the way. I just took money out of your pocket. You’re going to have to buy it.’ [your wife] Aida is so nice.”
Cope’s wife Aida appeared on “Hard Knocks” telling her two young children that the father would likely be fined for his actions in the play. Cobb is expected to find out later in the week the amount of the fine.
