Tiki Barber Credit: SNY/WFAN
NFLRadioBy Sean Keeley on

The New York Jets are under a tremendous amount of scrutiny heading into the 2023 NFL season. So, then, are the media members who cover them.

The arrival of quarterback Aaron Rodgers was enough to make the Jets one of the biggest stories in the NFL this year, but once they were chosen to take part in HBO’s Hard Knocks (against their wishes), that ratcheted things up to astronomical levels. Now, every time a member of the Jets roster or coaching staff sneezes, it’s news.

So on Thursday morning, when NFL reporter Rick Stroud reported that the Jets “bailed” on the second day of a  joint-practice session against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that raised a lot of eyebrows.

That tweet created a lot of questions. Why did the Jets suddenly cancel the practice? Does it have something to do with Hard Knocks? Does Aaron Rodgers hate Tampa? How could they let the Bucs fly all the way up there and just bail? Are the Jets scared?

Actually, none of those questions even need to be asked. On Wednesday, ESPN NFL reporter Rich Cimini, who covers the Jets, noted that while a second joint practice was initially scheduled, the Jets had previously canceled, with head coach Robert Saleh citing player safety because “2nd joint practices tend to get chippy and have more injuries.”

In fact, the news was initially reported even earlier than that, with NY Post reporter Brian Costello noting it on Monday.

The Jets held their own practice on Thursday, which was attended by Saleh. That last part is notable because of what WFAN’s Tiki Barber reported on Friday. The former New York Giants star said on-air that the true reason that the joint practice was canceled was because Saleh could not attend and his absence would raise too many questions once that episode of Hard Knocks aired.

“The Jets and the Buccaneers were supposed to practice together for two days,” said Barber. “The Jets canceled the practice on Thursday and the Bucs were already on their way here. Like, they’re not gonna come practice for a day.”

https://twitter.com/wfan660/status/1692631199657975958

In the full radio clip, which we have included below, Barber and co-host Evan Roberts outline a few of the rumors and theories about why the Jets canceled the Thursday practice. They also note that the Jets did cancel the practice prior to Wednesday, though Barber says “it was still there.” He then laid out what he had heard regarding why.

“There were lots of theories on why, but I believe, from what I have now ascertained…through a second-hand party, that Coach Saleh couldn’t be at practice,” said Barber. “This is the most important part of it. They are being filmed by Hard Knocks. That when Saleh couldn’t be there, they had to cancel practice.

“It would elicit questions. ‘Why isn’t the coach here?’ What Hard Knocks is showing has caused Robert Saleh to be criticized.”

“Absolutely,” added co-host Evan Roberts. “So the best way to not have those questions asked is to say there’s no practice. Everybody’s got an off day and then me not being there ain’t a freaking story. Until Tiki opened his mouth.”

You can listen to the full clip here:

As we’ve already noted, that’s not accurate to what had been previously reported. And to make it even clearer that this is inaccurate, Saleh not only attended the Jets practice on Thursday but did a press conference afterward.

How’d we get here? It seems like three distinct things happened. First, we’ve got a hypersensitive media situation surrounding anything and everything the Jets do (or don’t do). Second, a bad game of telephone that took a poorly worded post about the canceled practice that got aggregated to create a narrative that wasn’t accurate. Third, honestly, we’re not sure what Barber was up to with his easily debunked “report” but it seemed to be a mix of laziness and a desire to make waves around an already hot topic.

Much has been made of the New York media’s relationship with the Jets and Rodgers this season, specifically when it comes to the way WFAN talent will cover them. And there have already been some pretty weird instances. For the most part, if the Jets live up to the hype, everyone will be happy and get along. But in the meantime, incidents like this don’t bode well for the relationship between the Jets and the NY media if the season falls apart.

[WFAN]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Sean Keeley