New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has opened up on the conversation he shared with quarterback Aaron Rodgers the night before firing Robert Saleh.
The Jets announced Tuesday morning that Saleh had been fired as head coach – just two days after suffering defeat against the Minnesota Vikings in London, which saw New York slip to 2-3.
The decision came just five games into Saleh’s fourth season with the franchise but the team had already endured a dreary start, despite star quarterback Rodgers being back to full health.
Addressing the matter with the media Tuesday afternoon, Johnson revealed, via Adam Schefter, that he spoke with the four-time MVP, who he brought to New York in 2022 in exchange for multiple draft picks, the night before axing Saleh.
However, Johnson, the former ambassador to the UK, insisted that the pair did not discuss the head coach or his fate.
Jets owner Woody Johnson (R) spoke to Aaron Rodgers (L) the night before firing Robert Saleh
Robert Saleh was fired as head coach of the New York Jets on Tuesday after their latest defeat
The businessman maintained that the former Super Bowl winner had no input in Saleh’s pending exit. He said that he consulted with general manager Joe Douglas but that ultimately it was his decision and his decision alone.
Woody explained that he felt a coaching change was necessary to best reap the potential of his players and end the franchise’s playoff drought.
The Jets have failed to make it to the postseason since 2011, when they lost AFC Championship game, something which Johnson had been hoping to rectify when he appointed Saleh in 2021.
However, Saleh, who became the NFL’s first ever Muslim-American head coach when he joined the Jets, departs with a dismal 20-36 record after failing to make the playoffs in each of his three full seasons.
The Lebanese-American went through six different starting quarterbacks in his time at MetLife; with Rodgers coming after Zach Wilson, Mike White, Trevor Siemian, Tim Boyle and Joe Flacco.
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will take up the head coaching duties and lead the floundering franchise for the remainder of the season, Johnson confirmed in a statement Tuesday.
Saleh’s firing marks the very first time Johnson has dropped the axe on a head coach in the middle of a season in his 25 years as owner. The last head coach the Jets had to replace mid-season was Lou Holtz back in 1976.
There were high hopes for the Jets in the 2024 season with Rodgers back to full fitness, following the nightmare Achilles injury he suffered four snaps into his debut last term.
Johnson and Saleh brought the quarterback to New York in 2022 for multiple picks
Yet even with the four-time MVP available, they have struggled for form in the first five games of the campaign, including in a disastrous 10-9 home loss to the Broncos.
Following Tuesday’s bombshell news, many fans and NFL analysts have hinted that a rift between the coach and his quarterback pushed Saleh out of the door.
In a blistering rant on First Take, ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe accused Rodgers of being responsible for Saleh’s dismissal with undermining tactics.
‘Saleh didn’t lose this team,’ Sharpe insisted on the ESPN morning show. ‘Aaron Rodgers undercut this man by not coming to minicamp. We heard the mumbles saying how that looked because it was mandatory.
‘The moment Aaron Rodgers did that, Robert Saleh had no control over the team because the guys would be saying, “This guy is supposed to be our leader, this is the guy we’re supposed to count on.”‘
Rodgers skipped the Jets’ mandatory minicamp in June to visit the banks of the Nile after participating in voluntary OTAs.
The team ruled that Rodgers’ absence was ‘unexcused’ resulting in over $100,000 in fines for the decorated quarterback, who was closing in on a return to the field at the beginning of the season after rupturing his Achilles last year.
Shannon Sharpe lashed out at Rodgers, insisting Saleh’s dismissal wasn’t a ‘good look’
The issue raised concerns over tensions within the Jets camp ahead of the new season but, despite ruffling feathers, Rodgers played down his absence claiming minicamps nowadays are just glorified OTA practices and describing his Egyptian getaway as ‘beautiful’ in a tone-deaf appearance on Barstool’s ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast in the summer.
‘Boy, this is a bad look on Aaron Rodgers,’ Sharpe continued, speaking on Saleh’s dismissal. ‘He doesn’t realize how bad this looks.
‘Can you imagine Tom Brady later in his career getting the coach fired? Can you imagine Peyton Manning later in his career having a coach fired on his watch?
‘That bad man has become more problems than he’s worth.’
