Former Jets QB Boomer Esiason offers pointed advice to Sauce Gardner after social media dispute with fans

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The New York Jets season has not gone according to plan. 

Despite having four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers under center for all 10 games this season, the Jets have only managed to win three of those contests. Rodgers was available for less than one full game in 2023, after he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. 

Star defensive back Sauce Gardner has appeared frustrated at times this season. Gardner was recently engaged in a dispute with football fans on social media. The two-time All-Pro ultimately deleted his posts.

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CBS Sports analyst Boomer Esiason looks on before the AFC Championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs on Jan 30, 2022 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

During a recent edition of "Boomer & Gio," former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason addressed the exchange Gardner had with football fans. Esiason suggested Gardner's time could be spent more wisely and advised the 24-year-old to "put the damn phone down."

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"My advice to Sauce Gardner is to put the damn phone down. Put it down!" Esiason said. "The last two years, everyone is talking about how you’re the best player at your position. So it was two years of adulation and how great you are. All of a sudden, you have a couple bad games and miss some tackles, people go after you, and you want to start fighting people?"

"Stop defending and just play ball, man," Boomer added. "I wish he would just put it down, and this offseason, just work on his golf game."

New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, #1, prepares prior to the game between the New York Jets and the New York Giants on Aug. 28, 2022 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Esiason, who earned league MVP honors in 1988, also suggested he would take a school teacher-type approach if he was coaching in the NFL.

"If I were a coach, I would want to be like a school teacher and say ‘Hey guys, can we put the phones in our caddies until after the game, and can we focus?'"

Team owner Woody Johnson decided to part way with coach Robert Saleh in October following the Jets 2-3 start. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named the interim head coach. 

New York Jets helmets are held by staff before the match against Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Oct. 6, 2024.

Seven days later, the Jets sent a conditional draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Davante Adams. The move, however, has not made an overwhelmingly positive impact on the wins-losses column. The Jets have dropped four of their past five games.

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The Jets host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. On Wednesday, Colts coach Shane Steichen announced the team's plans to switch back to second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. The quarterback was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he was benched in favor of Joe Flacco after Week 7.

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