The New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday after just five games, leading them to a 2-3 record.
The Jets had lost their last two games, including losing to the Minnesota Vikings in London 23-17.
Former six-year NFL veteran Solomon Wilcots criticized the Jets for firing Saleh during a recent appearance on OutKick’s “The Ricky Cobb Show.”
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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) talks with New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
“Look, I know there is going to be a great temptation for people to lay this at the feet of Aaron Rodgers. I’m not absolving Aaron from where this thing is, because his fingerprints are in it. He’s not the one who decided to fire Robert Saleh, neither is Joe Douglas by all reports. This is all on the owner, Woody Johnson. Remember when Robert Saleh was hired before the start of the 2021 season, Woody Johnson was serving as the ambassador to England.” Wilcots said.
Wilcots thinks Johnson firing Saleh was more for appearances, than it was for football reasons.
“He was over in London, right, you know, having a good time over there with his good friends and now when his team goes back over to London, and they lose to the Minnesota Vikings, ‘Oh I got to do something about this, I’m the guy who can fix it’ by all accounts its arbitrary that he decided to make this move because ‘I gotta fix it, I don’t want to waste the years of Aaron Rodgers.’ But I could tell you right now, when that game had concluded over in London you know what really was the problem, the offense,” Wilcots added.
Solomon Wilcots on the SiriusXM radio set at the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
The Jets have scored a combined 26 points in their last two games and have scored just 93 points through their first five games this season, matching their offensive output last season through five games when Zach Wilson was the quarterback.
“It’s an offense with Nathaniel Hackett as the coordinator, Aaron Rodgers as the co-offensive coordinator, that decided they were going to call 108 pass plays over the last two games. Including a game against the Denver Broncos where it was windy and rainy, and the conditions didn’t even lend itself to throwing the ball, but they called 54 pass plays in that game. They threw the ball another 54 times in London against the Minnesota Vikings. So that’s 108 pass plays called compared to 37 run plays called over those two games. Eight sacks on Aaron Rodgers, three interceptions, including a pick six six. He threw two interceptions in the first quarter!” Wilcots said.
“But yet we were going to fire the head coach because he brought in this great defense by all accounts, Robert Saleh’s defense is playing at a top level, one of the top-rated defenses in the National Football League across all the metrics, in terms of pass rush, pressure, and coverage.
“Over the last three years, they ranked sixth overall in points allowed per game, so when that game ended over in London, we were all concerned about what we were going to do to fix this offense, and even as we sit here today after the firing of Robert Saleh, that problem still exists. Nothing’s changed!”
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New York Jets coach Robert Saleh reacts against the Minnesota Vikings in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
The Jets were expecting Rodgers to transform an offense that struggled mightily last season in his absence. Despite their ineffectiveness on the offensive side of the ball last season, the Jets managed to win seven games on the back of an elite defense.
The Jets promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim head coach, and he will be tasked with righting the ship.
Despite a sluggish start, with a win in their next game against the Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football,” the Jets will be in the lead for the AFC East.
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