After reportedly trying to find someone to oversee the offense above coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the Jets apparently realized they had someone hiding right under their nose whose job duties already include that, in theory.
The head coach.
The many bits created this week by a series of interesting quotes from quarterback Aaron Rodgers included an explanation that Robert Saleh has been more involved in the Jets’ offense.
“As a defensive coach, he’s been in that room a long time, but he’s been sitting to my left for a good portion of the offseason so far,” Rodgers said, via Rich Cimini of Keynote USA.com. “That’s why we appreciate his influence. He has brought some really good ideas.”
It’s more than just the principal sitting in the back of the classroom. Saleh is affirmatively contributing to the offense.
“He’s added a lot of cool things that you’ll see in OTAs and in training camp, which I think would be great for us,” Rodgers said.
It would be easy to play the “nothing to see here” card or downplay the situation, but it marks a break from the traditional approach to running a team. The head coach focuses on the side of the ball that got him there and delegates the other side to his coordinator.
Saleh, who is among the many Jets employees who won’t be a Jets employee after 2024 if a playoff drought that dates back to 2010 doesn’t end, is doing what he must to improve the team. Rodgers’ handpicked coordinator hasn’t made it, mainly because Hackett failed to change the offense enough to accommodate Zach Wilson after Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week One, Drive One.
It’s easy to blame Hackett for not doing what good coaches do: adapt the playbook to fit the players’ abilities and skills. However, the fact that Rodgers continued to hang around the team under the vague notion that he would return might have prompted the Jets to continue the Rodgers offense so that the other 10 players would be fully schooled in it, if/when Rodgers did. did. He rode a white horse at first light in the fifteenth game.
Whether it’s characterized as desperation or necessity, for the Jets it’s a reality. They must improve offensively. They should also be ready to turn to Tyrod Taylor or Jordan Travis if Rodgers gets injured again. Given his age and his recent history, it’s more foolish to assume he will play in all 17 regular-season games than to prepare for another premature conclusion to what will be his 20th NFL season.
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