Following the relatively surprise firing of New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, which owner Woody Johnson has been at pains to insist was a decision made entirely by him, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers has moved to quash rumors that he was in some way behind the move to remove him from his duties.
The New York Jets had started the season fairly strongly, with their win over the New England Patriots at the MetLife Stadium in game week three being an apparent statement of intent, one that moved the team to 2-1. However, a meek loss to the Denver Broncos followed by a defeat to the high-flying Minnesota Vikings in London was enough for Johnson to call time on Saleh’s reign.
Aaron Rodgers, who is never far out of the news, was cited by many pundits as a catalyst for the firing of Saleh, which is perhaps unfair but not wholly surprising given just how important the veteran performer and four-time NFL MVP is to the organization.
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2024 was Robert Saleh’s fourth season in charge of the Jets, and though his last two campaigns ended in fairly decent 7-10 records, the arrival of Rodgers was supposed to lead to a genuine upturn in fortunes, and that has not panned out.
Clearly, losing Rodgers for all of 2023 was not something Saleh could have foreseen, but this season has been less than glorious, leading to Johnson swinging the axe. Many have suggested that the former Green Bay Packers star had a hand in the decision-making process, a claim the 40-year-old flatly refutes.
“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I am not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it,”
“And that is I resent any of those accusations because they are patently false. And it is interesting the amount of power that people think that I have, which I do not.”
“Woody has no obligation to let me know what his plans are,”
“I just appreciated the call that he was checking on me.” Rodgers added.
“I love Coach Saleh,”
“We have a very solid relationship… He was a big reason why I came to the Jets.” he concluded.
It now falls to the interim head coach, Jeff Ulbrich, to turn things around, and in his first game in charge, he failed to make much headway, albeit their 20-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills did show the Jets battling manfully against a strong team.
The 47-year-old stand-in was promoted from Defensive coordinator to take the main role, having been in that position for three years. He spent nine years as a player with the San Francisco 49ers before taking the job of assistant special teams coordinator at the Seattle Seahawks in 2010.
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