The Carolina Panthers showed up on HBO ‘Hard Knocks.’ Then they got embarrassed
NFL preseason games are officially meaningless, and the Carolina Panthers’ 27-0 loss to the New York Jets won’t count in any league standings.
However, it will be harder to forget the game now that it has received the full-on “Hard Knocks” treatment, with the long-running HBO show analyzing it up close and in slow motion, very much to the Panthers’ chagrin given the outcome.
HBO debuted a new episode of “Hard Knocks” Tuesday night. The series is following the New York Jets around throughout the preseason in 2023, so the Panthers played the foil for this week’s episode.
Here were five memorable moments from the show. If you’re fast-forwarding, the Panthers come into the episode at about the 21-minute mark.
Saleh gets salty
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, a primary character throughout, is mic’ed up as the Jets keep pounding the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
“God, I love kicking people’s a-----,” Saleh says at one point as the Jets keep rolling through the Panthers on offense and shutting them out on defense.
11 sacks for Williams?!
Carolina fans who watched the game know that the Panthers’ offensive line had all sorts of trouble blocking the Jets, as rookie quarterback Bryce Young was hit three times on his seven dropbacks (many of those shown in slow-motion in the show) and Matt Corral got hit many more times than that. This resulted in a tense O-line team meeting immediately after the game.
But the precursor to this is focused on in the show. In the Jets-Panthers joint practice in Spartanburg Aug. 9, star New York defensive tackle Williams is shown obliterating the Panthers’ O-line over and over in live drills.
“On my life, bruh, I probably got 10 sacks today by myself!” Williams says once. And after yet another one — the quarterbacks weren’t actually getting hit because it was practice — Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers holds up his two pointer fingers, signifying Williams has now increased his unofficial total.
“Eleven sacks,” Rodgers says.
Aaron Rodgers and Bryce Young
Rodgers, understandably the headliner of this “Hard Knocks” show, has several friendly and funny interactions with Panthers players and coaches. He greets quarterback Bryce Young with the phrase: “What’s up, stud?” Rodgers later tells Young he is a “big fan of yours.”
Rodgers also tells Carolina Panthers defensive end Brian Burns after Saturday’s game — in which neither Rodgers nor Burns played — “Good luck with the contract. You deserve it. You’re a f-in incredible player.” Burns is in negotiations for a major contract extension.
Rodgers, Campen and ‘Faux Tarts’
In the funniest interaction of the show, Rodgers joshes with Panthers offensive line coach James Campen, who he knows from Green Bay. The quarterback teases Campen repeatedly about his weight, saying Campen had promised him he would be down to 260 pounds at training camp. This prompts Carolina center Bradley Bozeman to mention that Campen is now eating “Faux-Tarts” rather than his usual Pop Tarts.
“Does he really?” Rodgers says, astonished, before Campen admits he has had one real Pop Tart during training camp. Then Rodgers and Campen hug it out and say “I love you” to each other.
Panthers’ best moment
In the one truly impressive part for the Panthers on the field, Rodgers is shown struggling against Carolina’s defense late in the Aug. 9 practice.
He gets on his own offensive linemen several times, saying at one point: “Are we gonna f--- block anybody up front?” and at another point criticizing a play call that forced him to throw a hurried interception against a big Panthers rush.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 8:59 AM with the headline "The Carolina Panthers showed up on HBO ‘Hard Knocks.’ Then they got embarrassed."
