The 2023 New York Jets can be summed up in two pictures: the hopeful beginning, when the flag-waving Aaron Rodgers led his new teammates onto the MetLife Stadium field before the opener, and moments later, when the presumed franchise savior was thrown off the grounds assisted. with a season-ending Achilles injury.
But when we spoke to thirty sources in and around the team, The Athletics reveals deeper problems that further sabotaged the Jets’ attempts to survive without Rodgers under center.
“It’s just such a mess,” one Jets coach told The Athletic. ‘Something has to change.’
Wednesday’s report paints the Jets as a rudderless ship: Sources describe Rodgers as the de facto general manager ahead of the real General Manager, Joe Douglas, while the quarterback’s hand-picked offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, is accused of betraying the trust of to have lost the players.
Additionally, head coach Robert Saleh is said to be obsessed with negative press, and while he publicly defended backup quarterback Zach Wilson, he is said to have privately blamed Rodgers’ backup for the Jets’ struggles.
Injured Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks on during a Jan. 7 game in New England
Jets head coach Robert Saleh grimaces during the team’s Oct. 29 game against the Giants
The highlight of the Jets season came in the opener when Rodgers led the team onto the field
Rodgers’ season ended in the first quarter against the Bills when he hurt his ankle
The Jets declined to talk to The Athletic about the article and Rodgers did not respond to requests for an interview.
Instead, anonymous sources, including coaches and players, spoke out against a toxic football team that made more apologies in 2023 than anyone is willing to publicly admit.
An unnamed coach said he was alarmed by Hackett’s poor level of preparation after the Rodgers injury, saying he had never seen a team receive so little scouting tape from opponents.
To many, the organization seemed resigned to its fate, even after Wilson pulled off a miraculous season-opening victory over the Buffalo Bills in Rodgers’ relief.
Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett
Hackett, who previously coached Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers, has been accused of failing to adapt after Rodgers’ injury and instead opting for a game plan as if he still had the four-time MVP at his disposal.
And Hackett wasn’t alone in his reverence for Rodgers.
“That’s what Aaron wants” was a common phrase around the Jets’ facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, according to the report.
During training camp, when Rodgers reportedly disagreed with a particular play call, he would let the offense reset and do whatever he wanted.
Saleh, for his part, was very hands off with the offense, the report said.
As a defensive coordinator in San Francisco before being hired by the Jets in 2021, Saleh’s concerns about the offense were mainly limited to Wilson, who reportedly struggled to be reinserted into the starting lineup at the end of the season.
Worried about getting hurt behind an injury-free offensive line (spoiler: he suffered a concussion), Wilson’s desire to stay off the field after being benched in December eventually leaked to the press, prompting Saleh to look for the source.
“If you come forward now, you won’t get into trouble,” Saleh reportedly told the team, threatening to take away their phones.
The Jets signed Allen Lazard to a $44 million deal to reunite the receiver with Rodgers
The source was never revealed, but Saleh’s apparent media paranoia only worsened.
Fearing he might end up like Vic Fangio, a respected defensive coordinator who got the Broncos head coaching job but was let go by a lackluster offense, Saleh reportedly became obsessed with the team’s coverage.
Often, The Athletic reported, Saleh wondered why the New York Giants would get better press than his team.
What made matters worse was the presence of owner Woody Johnson, who read not only the local tabloids but also fan comments on social media before relaying his own concerns to Saleh, the report said.
As for Douglas, he is almost spared in the report, but only because Rodgers is believed to be in charge at Florham Park.
“Rodgers is not the assistant GM,” an AFC general manager told The Athletic. “Joe Douglas is the assistant GM.”
Jets star Garrett Wilson told The Athletic: ‘What happened this season cannot happen again’
Not only did the Jets add Hackett in their attempt to get Rodgers to agree to a trade before the season, but New York also added former Green Bay receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, not to mention several others ex-Packers.
Rodgers also wanted left tackle David Bakhtiari and tight end Marcedes Lewis, but the Jets did not acquire them from Green Bay,
Everyone will be back in 2024, but Saleh has reportedly made noise about adding to the offensive staff under Hackett.
Whether or not that works is anyone’s guess, but one thing is clear: It’s the Jets’ 31st-ranked offense – not their 3rd-ranked defense – that’s responsible for the disastrous 2023 season.
“What happened this season can’t happen again,” receiver Garrett Wilson told The Athletic. “We have to make adjustments in the game, we have to do things to counter what we’re getting and be able to put points on the board because the two years I’ve been here it’s been tough.
‘Football hasn’t been that difficult. Watching it from the sidelines, it doesn’t look that difficult for the other team, so we have to figure out something to get it rolling no matter who throws it.”