HBO’s “Hard Knocks” returned Tuesday night, this time featuring the New York Jets and new quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“Hard Knocks” chronicles an NFL team through training camp as the team prepares for the upcoming football season.
The show, which premiered in 2001 with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, delves into the personal and professional lives of players, coaches and staff. It usually focuses on high draft picks adjusting to NFL life as well as players with unique or inspirational backgrounds and their attempts to make the regular season roster.
If the season’s first episode is any indication, this season will focus heavily on Rodgers in his first season with the team after a roller coaster offseason.
In the 53-minute premiere, viewers got 45 minutes of Rodgers and a little bit of cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Rodgers’ offseason started with a four-day “darkness retreat” in February to contemplate his future with the Green Bay Packers. Two months later he was traded to the Jets.
Once a Jet, Rodgers’ adventurous offseason continued. Rodgers did a full public tour of New York events, from NHL and NBA playoff games to a Taylor Swift concert to the Tony Awards show. In June, Rodgers was the keynote speaker at a convention for psychedelics.
Now on “Hard Knocks,” Rodgers is fully aware he’s mic’d up and the fixation of NFL Films’ camera crews — “I’ll give you some good (expletive) today,” Rodgers says as he makes his way to the practice field early in the episode.
Here’s what you need to know about the next episode and the rest of the season.
‘HARD KNOCKS’ PREMIERE:Aaron Rodgers steals the show in first episode of ‘Hard Knocks’ with Jets
When do new episodes of ‘Hard Knocks’ come out?
New episodes will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET until the season finale on Sept. 5, according to NFL.com.
How to watch ‘Hard Knocks’ on TV, livestream
Episodes will be available to watch on HBO and its Max streaming service (formerly known as HBO Max).
Watch the ‘Hard Knocks’ trailer
HBO released the trailer for this season of “Hard Knocks” on Aug. 1.
List of ‘Hard Knocks’ seasons, teams
The series took a 5-year hiatus between 2002 and 2007 because the NFL couldn’t find a team willing to participate. The show also wasn’t produced in 2011 due to the NFL lockout.
- Baltimore Ravens (2001)
- Dallas Cowboys (2002, 2008, 2021)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2007)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2009, 2013)
- New York Jets (2010)
- Miami Dolphins (2012)
- Atlanta Falcons (2014)
- Houston Texans (2015)
- Los Angeles Rams (2016, 2020)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2017)
- Cleveland Browns (2018)
- Oakland Raiders (2019)
- Los Angeles Chargers (2020)
- Detroit Lions (2022)
Contributing: Jim Reineking, USA TODAY
