Hardee entered the NFL in 2017, signed by Houston as an undrafted free agent wide receiver out of Illinois. He landed in New Orleans the next season, still listed as a WR, but giving a hint of what was to come in his career when he blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in a win against Tampa Bay. He was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
After four seasons with the Saints, the Jets gave special teams coordinator Brant Boyer a gift of sorts when they signed Hardee to a three-year free-agent contract. Listed on the roster as a "cornerback," Hardee has yet to take a snap on anything but special teams.
"Boyer challenged us to go out and do better [than in the Week 1 game against the Ravens]," Hardee said. "He challenges us every single week to stop returns, create explosives and some type of momentum. In the beginning of the game, that fake punt when Braden [Mann] hit Jeff Smith, we've been practicing that since last year. It was great to see, and we scored on that drive."
That TD drive came after the Jets went three-and-out to start the game before the Browns put together a 90-yard, 14-play drive that nearly consumed 9 minutes. It was Mann, the punter, who completed the 17-yard pass that led to QB Joe Flacco hitting rookie WR Garrett Wilson for his first NFL TD reception.
The talk on Sunday and Monday, however, was about that comeback. Falling behind by 30-17, Flacco brought the Jets back with his long TD pass to Corey Davis. The entire stadium and TV audience knew what was coming next: One of the least successful plays in the game of football -- the onside kick.
"I heard somewhere that there's like a 7 percent chance of getting [an] onside [kick] now with the new kickoff rules and you have to be perfect, the kick's got to be perfect, your execution on the front lines got to be perfect," head coach Robert Saleh said on Monday. "Then you need, on top of it, you need some lucky bounces." He added: " Credit to those guys that absolutely freaking executed it perfectly and we got the lucky bounce we needed and they fought for the ball, and Hardee came up with it."
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September 21, 2022 at 03:32AM
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Jets' Special Teams Wizard Justin Hardee: 'To Do It Against My Hometown Team Is Special' - newyorkjets.com
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