Jets Coach Mocks Popular Patriots Mantra On ‘Hard Knocks’

The Jets-Patriots rivalry remains strong despite one-sided results, and there might be more heat after Tuesday’s season premiere of “Hard Knocks” on HBO.

New York hasn’t beaten New England since Week 16 of the 2015 season, but that hasn’t stopped the Jets from talking trash.

That appeared to be the case when a defensive meeting was featured on “Hard Knocks.” Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich led the meeting and laid out the philosophy for his team, which ended up being a dig at the Patriots.

“It’s the mantra of our defense: Make a (expletive) earn every yard,” Ulbrich said, per NESN.com’s Zack Cox. “Do my job — is that good enough? (Expletive) no. That’s the rest of the NFL, isn’t it? ‘Do your job.’ (Expletive) that. Do your job, then now what? If we all do our job and a (expletive) little bit more, that’s 22 (players) playing. You guys feel it? Think about this. That’s 22 (expletives) on the field. So then the question goes to the offense — now what?”

Every NFL team certainly has some variation of “do your job” baked into its foundation, but the Patriots are more heavily linked to the mantra, which is why fans couldn’t help but think of Ulbrich’s speech as a dig at New England.

Ironically, Ulbrich was on the wrong end of a “do your job” masterclass. The 46-year-old was a linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons during the 2016 season, which ended with New England iconically coming back from a 28-3 deficit to win Super Bowl LI.

Ulbrich has been a minor figure in the Patriots-Jets rivalry since his arrival in New York in 2021. He was impressed and perhaps scared at how good Mac Jones was in his rookie season, and he desired revenge after the Patriots routed the Jets in Week 7 of the 2021 season.

The Jets defensive coordinator might have been asking for his team to give 110% when the other team gives 100%. But his comments on “Hard Knocks” might serve as bulletin-board material when the sides face off in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium.