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To the surprise of many around the NFL, the New York Jets decided to fire head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after the Jets dropped to 2-3 on the season with a loss in London to the Minnesota Vikings. Perhaps the decision of Jets owner Woody Johnson shouldn't come as a huge surprise though, considering the move that Robert Saleh was considering making before he got the axe.
There remains speculation that Jets interim head coach/defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is going to follow through on Robert Saleh's plan to demote, or potentially even fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. But on a Wednesday morning appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, NFL insider Dianna Russini made the point that Aaron Rodgers' loyalty to Hackett could prevent such a move from being made.
“The question we don’t know though is Aaron Rodgers willing to do that? Because I have never seen a quarterback in the time I’ve covered football have the deep loyalty that he does to Nathaniel Hackett as much as Aaron Rodgers does. Do I think Aaron Rodgers is seeing what we're seeing though, and you know that's something that I'm curious over, because there's no way Aaron Rogers thinks that this is good enough.”
With all due respect to Dianna Russini, who is far more plugged in on these matters than I ever will be, Rodgers has expressed his fair share of questionable beliefs that defy wide-spread public opinion, or even sometimes fact. So as far as he's concerned, Nathaniel Hackett might be the most brilliant and innovative offensive mind to coach in the NFL since Bill Walsh.
Aaron Rodgers' experience with Nathaniel Hackett pre-dates their time together in New York. From 2019 through 2021, Hackett served as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay, overseeing a Packers offense led by Aaron Rodgers and head coach Matt LaFleur. In those three seasons, the Packers won thirteen games each year, and Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021.
Unsurprisingly, when the Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett to be their offensive coordinator in January 2023, it was viewed as the first domino to fall, leading the Packers and Jets to complete a trade for Aaron Rodgers three months later.
Aaron Rodgers' “love” for Robert Saleh not enough
During his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday afternoon, Aaron Rodgers proclaimed his love for Robert Saleh, noting that Saleh was a primary reason he pursued the trade to the Jets in the first place, while also conceding that this is just a part of what is “a tough business.” But where there's smoke, there is often fire — or in this case, a coach fired — and for far too long, there have been billows of smoke pouring out of Jets headquarters.
Maybe now there's a change in leadership, things will start to calm down. Or maybe this is just the start of a second-consecutive season from hell for the New York Jets. A brutal month of October continues this Monday night, with a home game against the Buffalo Bills. The Jets still have matchups with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans before the calendar page turns to November.
