NFL Open Thread: As the Aaron turns
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Rodgers got his scapegoat, in a move that was particularly strange when it was announced:
When the New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday, two days after Saleh’s team lost 23-17 to the Minnesota Vikings in London, everybody knew what was up. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that Saleh, a defensive-minded head coach, was the fall guy for an offense that has woefully underperformed, even with the healthy Aaron Rodgers the Jets had for just four snaps last season.
Especially when it came out that Saleh had thought to fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett following the Vikings loss, and Hackett has been Rodgers’ best bud going back to their days together in Green Bay… well, you understood how that was going to go.
Replacing Saleh with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich could present futher issues for the Jets, because New York’s defense hasn’t been the problem, and now with Saleh out the door and Ulbrich entrusted with the 30,000-foot view, who’s going to be calling the shots for the one side of the ball that has made sense for that team this season?
Regardless, we are where we are with this. Hackett, who doesn’t appear to have any business calling an offense in the NFL, winds up scot-free, and Rodgers appears to be in control of the whole picture. As we have also seen in Cleveland, when you are beholden to your quarterback beyond all rational thought, and your quarterback is not playing well, and your quarterback might be a toxic force behind the scenes, you have several large issues.
It’s not so much that an injustice was done to Saleh per se — he seems like a classic good DC in over his head as a head coach to me — but if you wanted a coach with some influence on the offense the time to do that was the offseason. It’s strange to fire him five games in with the defense playing very well despite some significant losses/no-shows in the front 7, and doubly strange to fire him for wanting to fire the ridiculous Hackett. I could see it if you were bringing in an outside voice with a track record, like Vrabel or Carroll, but to promote your DC who nobody considered a serious head coaching candidate last week?
Then things got better for the Jets in a sense but even more confusing:
On his second full day on the job, New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich made a major shake-up on his coaching staff, stripping the playcalling responsibilities from embattled offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
The move, announced by Ulbrich on Thursday, has an added layer of significance because Hackett is an Aaron Rodgers confidant. One of the main reasons why Rodgers wanted to be traded to the Jets last year was his close relationship with Hackett.
The new playcaller is Todd Downing, a former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator who coaches the quarterbacks and holds the title of passing game coordinator. He will have “the full say on the game plan and, ultimately, the plays that are called within the game,” said Ulbrich, hoping to spark an offense that ranks 27th in yards per game.
“This is more a byproduct of a different take on things,” he said, explaining his rationale. “I’m not saying it’s a better or worse take on things by any means, but just a different take on things, a fresh approach.”
Hackett will remain on the staff in an undisclosed role
“Undisclosed role” yeah I guess Rodgers’s car isn’t going to detail itself!
If Rodgers was OK with firing Hackett I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just do that and see where you are with Saleh at the end of the year. Maybe that was Rodgers’s price? I guess one cannot expect anything resulting of the very MAGA marriage between Woody Johnson and Aaron Rodgers to be rational.