Aaron Rodgers: ‘Sacked Robert Saleh not the main issue for New York Jets’

Former Buffalo Bills assistant coach Phoebe Schecter is an NFL pundit and plays for Great Britain’s flag football team.

Robert Saleh became the first NFL head coach to lose their job this season as he was fired by the New York Jets after last Sunday’s loss in London, and I was surprised that it happened so early.

It’s not like they have a terrible record. They’re 2-3 and going into Monday Night Football against Buffalo, their divisional rivals. They could be playing for first in their division, so it felt a bit abrupt really but, ultimately, I don’t think Saleh was the issue.

When you bring in a quarterback like four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers – one of the biggest names in the sport – you’re bringing in much more than just a player. He almost becomes his own offensive coordinator, right? That’s not necessarily an easy relationship for a head coach and quarterback to have, and there were signs of murkiness in the water between Saleh and Rodgers.

Rodgers had a really good game against the Patriots three weeks ago but there was that moment when Saleh went to hug him and Rodgers pushed him away. Then after losing to Denver, they both talked about cadence issues and people being held accountable. Those were signs it was going this way but coming this soon, I think it’s unfortunate on Saleh.

The Jets have made [defensive coordinator] Jeff Ulbrich the interim head coach and he said [quarterbacks coach] Todd Downing will become the offensive play-caller.

He’s essentially demoted [offensive coordinator] Nathaniel Hackett, which I think is what Saleh wanted to do before he was fired. But Saleh, a defensive-minded head coach, had lost that power on the offensive side of the ball and I don’t feel like Rodgers would have been making that a nice environment for him.

I think it’s really telling that as soon as Ulbrich gets into the role, he demotes Hackett. Ulbrich’s been there, he’s seen what’s going on, he’s been in all the team meetings, so he’s going to know what the issue is.