The struggle to watch HBO’s hit series Hard Knocks, for those fans who don’t subscribe to the premium television network or its streaming service, can apparently extend to the players starring on the show.
While speaking to reporters on Thursday Jets cornerback D.J. Reed, who was part of the season premiere, told reporters he endured his own issues trying to watch the show on Tuesday evening.
Reed, the bookend to New York’s star defensive backfield alongside Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner, shared a rather funny anecdote about the issue he faced tuning into the program.
The Jets, who are in Spartanburg, S.C. participating in joint practices with the Panthers, checked into a hotel that doesn’t offer HBO on televisions in the rooms.
In order to watch the popular documentary series which features the Jets this summer, he needed his girlfriend to FaceTime him with her phone pointed directly at her TV.
“I told her to keep the phone straight but her arm was getting tired,” he said, per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe. “… Sometimes she was pausing it [the stream] because she was texting.”
Jets CB DJ Reed said “Hard Knocks was lit” but noted they didn’t have HBO in their hotel room so he had his girl FaceTime him with her phone facing TV.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 10, 2023
“I telling her to keep phone straight but her arm was getting tired… Sometimes she was pausing it because she was texting.” pic.twitter.com/QRnHeanKMc
The 26-year-old emerging talent, who struggled to watch himself and his teammates on TV on Tuesday night, certainly didn’t face any issues on the field in his first season in New York, in which he recorded career highs in tackles (80) and passes defended (12). He and Gardner formed arguably the top cornerback tandem in the NFL.