Frustration is boiling over for the New York Jets and their fanbase.
A 30-0 loss on Sunday not only eliminated any hopes of ending their 13-year playoff drought but locked the team into their eighth straight losing season.
With another losing season in tow, and after an embarrassing loss on Sunday, all eyes look towards the potential future of head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. While Douglas does not talk following games, Saleh has been the one drawing the ire of thousands in the fanbase for the lack of improvements in the three years he’s been at the helm.
Even with calls for his dismissal being as loud as possible over the last 24 hours, the Jets coach has maintained his focus on finishing out the remainder of the season.
“I’m just coaching trying to beat Washington…We coach in the moment, we coach to win football games.”
Before Sunday’s loss to Miami, reports were stating that the team was going to stick with both Saleh and Douglas for 2024. The reports cited injuries along the offensive line, and of course to the Hall-of-Fame quarterback on the roster as reasons for the team not matching the high expectations that were given before the season.
Those reports were almost validated after the Jets dismantled the Houston Texans two weeks ago as well. The NFL, as Saleh has said, is a week-to-week league though. The way the organization lost to a reeling Dolphins squad did no one favors as they tried to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
It also didn’t help that, after the game, several players within the locker room voiced their disproval at the way the team was “out-schemed” and “out-efforted” by the Dolphins – a sign that perhaps the coaching staff’s message was being ignored.
“They are warranted,” Saleh said of the locker room comments, and on the team’s loss. “We didn’t coach well enough, execute well enough…anytime you lose 30-0, throw a dart at a dartboard and pick a reason.”
Fractures in locker rooms happen when teams begin to turn on a coaching staff or have problems with the way things are being run. While many may want to see a change in leadership for Gang Green, many leaders in the clubhouse defended the way things were being run in Florham Park.
“I can only speak for myself and I say yes,” Jets captain C.J. Mosley said. “Defensively and on special teams we have the utmost respect for our coaches…The things he (Saleh) says, I had that same thought.”
Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas also added, “We have Coach Saleh’s back just like he has ours.”
Leaders in the locker room won’t be able to save Saleh’s job or his staff as the losses keep piling up though. People would forgive the Jets for missing the playoffs in a year where Aaron Rodgers was lost after four plays into his debut, or going through 13 different offensive linemen in two months.
What people can’t forgive is the lackadaisical effort and lack of improvements made all across the offense, and the lifeless performance the defense put forth on Sunday. The fact that the team’s 103-yard performance was one of the five worst output games in team history, and three have come in the Saleh era does nothing to help him either in the modern game of football.
Despite the ongoing calls for his removal, and the conversations he has daily with Jets owner Woody Johnson, the long-time defensive mastermind has made it clear that he isn’t worried about his job security no matter what happens in these final three games.
“There are two types of coaches – those who have been fired and those who will be.”
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