Aaron Rodgers made the call. It’s just unfortunate that Robert Saleh goes down as the scapegoat.
The New York Jets fired their head coach Robert Saleh, effective immediately. During Saleh’s Jets tenure the team went 20-36, including starting this season 2-3. The final blow was the Jets’ Sunday afternoon loss in London against the Minnesota Vikings. The Jets lost a relatively close game 23-17, but Rodgers played awfully, throwing three interceptions.
Rodgers and the Jets had high expectations heading into the season that just haven’t materialized for multiple reasons, and instead of looking inward he ultimately blamed the coach, resulting in the decision that was made this morning.
From day one, Saleh was honestly never really given a fair shot with the Jets. They forced a terrible quarterback on him that he didn’t want because the Jets had just drafted him. They forced him to play with Zach Wilson for two years, until it was undeniable to the entire NFL world that Wilson could not play. Then, they tried a myriad of other QBs to replace Wilson, but none of them worked either. And honestly speaking, which head coach could win big with Mike White, or Joe Flacco, or Trevor Siemian, or Tim Boyle? That’s the list of QBs Saleh had to deal with before Rodgers came to town.
And when Rodgers arrived it didn’t get any better. He needed to take a “darkness retreat” before even deciding that he wanted to be a Jet. Once it was time to play actual football, Rodgers’ first season in New York lasted only four snaps before he suffered an achilles injury. Which forced Saleh to once again rely on the list of previously mentioned QBs.
Fast forward to this season, over the first five weeks Rodgers might’ve stayed upright but he hasn’t been a positive. He hasn’t been the leader they were expecting off the field. He was demeaning players and coaches alike on the sidelines. And on the field, he’s been down right average, a far cry from what we’ve grown accustomed to from the four-time NFL MVP. It all created the perfect storm for someone to be blamed, and everyone knows the blame wasn’t going to fall at the feet of Rodgers, so the only other person it could have been was Saleh.
Saleh should hold his head high because he still broke barriers and made history. He never shied away from his heritage or his religion, and for that he should be commended. Saleh became the NFL’s first ever Muslim-American head coach when he was hired in 2021. He is of Lebanese heritage, and this week in London he caused some controversy by wearing a Lebanon flag during his press conferences. On the field, the Jets have been one of the best defensive teams in the league since his arrival. Unfortunately, the offense could never fully come together, even with Rodgers calling the shots, and it cost Saleh his job.
On the bright side, Saleh gets to leave this mess and still gets the remainder of his contract. He will get another coaching opportunity; he is way too good on the defensive end. But the Jets? Will this firing save their season? Now they have to find a new head coach that can pacify Rodgers, and that is no simple task. The real question is who will they blame next? Will they stop pretending and address the real issue in the locker room or will the next head coach suffer this same fate?
