ORLANDO, Fla. — A year ago, the New York Jets were the toast of the NFL after trading for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They went quickly from “Hard Knocks” to hard times, and now the current regime faces a potential make-or-break season.
Coach Robert Saleh wouldn’t define it in those words, but he expressed a sense of urgency Monday morning at the NFL owners meetings. He said they need to parlay the proverbial offseason hype into regular-season success.
“When you lose, you’re a loser,” Saleh said. “I suck, [GM Joe Douglas] sucks, we all suck. It goes with the territory, but the best thing we can do is put our heads down and … go to work. All the feel-good stuff for the offseason doesn’t matter. We’ve got to win football games, and when we win football games all the narratives will change.”
The Jets haven’t won in a long time — eight straight losing seasons, to be exact. They’re 18-33 in three seasons under Saleh, who, along with Douglas, was put on alert last month by Woody Johnson. The 76-year-old owner, admittedly angry by last season’s 7-10 finish, came close to issuing a playoffs-or-bust mandate.
They fancied themselves as Super Bowl contenders last year, but everything unraveled when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear on the fourth snap of the season. Saleh knows he’s out of mulligans, but he downplayed the hot-seat theme.
“It doesn’t add [pressure],” he said, refusing to say the season would be a failure if they miss the postseason. “The pressure’s already max-elevated from Year 1 to wherever. There’s always pressure to win. Obviously, we’re all disappointed with the way things worked out a year ago, but I don’t think anyone’s confidence is shook.”
The Jets have generated buzz by signing big-name players such as wide receiver Mike Williams and left tackle Tyron Smith, but it doesn’t compare to last year when they dominated the NFL headlines with their pursuit and eventual acquisition of Rodgers, a four-time MVP. They were featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, enjoying the attention after initially protesting.
“There was no hiding from it,” Saleh said. “You trade for a guy like Aaron Rodgers, I feel like it would’ve sounded silly if any of us tried to hide from it. But the reality is, winning offseasons doesn’t matter. We’ve got to win football games and no matter how much excitement there is around the organization, no matter how much excitement there is around free agency or the draft, none of it matters.”
The good news is that Rodgers, 40, will be ready to participate in OTA practices in May, according to Saleh. The Jets revamped their offensive line, which was ravaged by injuries and ineffectiveness last season. Williams, less than five months removed from ACL surgery, has “a long way to go” in his rehab, Saleh said, but the hope is that he will be ready by Week 1.
The biggest disappointment of the offseason was watching team sack leader Bryce Huff go to the Philadelphia Eagles. The defensive-minded Saleh seemed stung by the free agent loss, saying, “People want to say that all he does is rush the passer, but all Mariano Rivera did was close ninth innings.” The Jets are showing interest in Jadeveon Clowney as a possible replacement.
It wouldn’t be an offseason without Rodgers news, and there was a firestorm when presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed recently that he was considering the quarterback as his running mate. Saleh sidestepped those questions. Clearly, he never seriously thought he’d lose Rodgers to the campaign trail.
“I think it was viewed a little bit differently in the political world than it was in at least in our world,” Saleh said. He said he didn’t talk to Rodgers about it. He didn’t need to, he said.
