Woody Johnson was not shy last week with his words.
The Jets owner stopped on the red carpet at the NFL Honors last Thursday to talk to me and another New York reporter. Johnson clearly had some things he wanted to say.
Besides taking a shot at Zach Wilson, Johnson also put everyone on notice that this season needs to be different.
While he did not say the Jets have to make the playoffs for coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas to keep their jobs, he made it clear he is ready to make changes if 2024 ends up being a disappointment.
“The discussions I’ve had in the last couple of months, they’ve seen me about as mad as I can be, with what was going on with the offense particularly,” Johnson said. “We’ve got all this talent and we’ve got to deploy talent properly. I think they all got the message. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year. We have to produce this year.”
That means 2024 is going to a make-or-break season for Douglas and Saleh. Johnson has been patient with both through their time with the Jets. It is fair to want results this season.
There is pressure on everyone with the Jets this year to end a playoff drought that is now old enough to be a teenager, but I think there is a sliding scale.
Here is who I think is under the most scrutiny in the months ahead:
1. Joe Douglas
The GM took over in June 2019. He inherited a bad roster, but he has had four drafts and four offseasons to fix it, and though it is much better, there are still glaring holes.
The biggest is on the offensive line. Douglas has used first-round picks twice on offensive linemen (Mekhi Becton, Alijah Vera-Tucker) and spent big money on another (Laken Tomlinson), but the line remains one of the biggest weaknesses on the team.
Douglas has to get it right this offseason. He can’t afford any misses like he’s had in free agency or the draft. He needs to fix the offensive line and bring in a No. 2 wide receiver. He can’t have another Allen Lazard mistake.
In the draft, he not only needs to hit on the No. 10 overall pick, he needs to find some hidden gems on Day 3, something he has not done a great job of doing in his first four drafts.
2. Robert Saleh
Fan sentiment sure has turned on Saleh to the point where it is difficult to find many Jets fans who still believe in the coach.
I’m not sure why it has gone so far south so quickly. Saleh was dealing with a very difficult situation last year when he lost his starting quarterback four plays into the season. Any team would have struggled to deal with that. Still, the Jets won seven games, and Saleh kept the locker room from splintering.
But Saleh won’t get any points in 2024 for anything outside of winning games. He knows that. He is 18-33 in three seasons as the Jets coach. That is a terrible record any way you slice it. He needs to put together a 10-win season that ends with a playoff berth to see 2025. Anything short of that and I think Johnson will be looking to make a change.
Still, the negativity about Saleh has gone overboard recently. He is a good leader and he deserves credit for building a top-five defense. He needs his quarterback to stay upright this season, which brings us to …
3. Aaron Rodgers
Unlike the first two guys, no one is thinking about firing Rodgers. But there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the quarterback to deliver for the Jets. He was seen as a franchise savior when he came over in trade last April. Then, he got hurt in Week 1 and the season fell apart. I’m sure Rodgers feels some guilt for that happening.
Entering Year 2 with the Jets, the common refrain is everything will be better with Rodgers at quarterback. That is pressure, even for a four-time MVP. Rodgers still can sling the football. Everyone who saw him at the end of the season when he was practicing can attest to that.
But will the Jets be able to protect him? Will they give him a strong supporting cast? At age 40, will age start to catch up to him? Will the Achilles injury hinder him at all?
These are all huge questions, and Rodgers is going to have to answer them.
4. Nathaniel Hackett
The offensive coordinator had a dismal first season with the Jets, but he also had the excuse of losing Rodgers and having to adjust the offense without him. But that process took too long, and his play-calling was tough to watch.
I don’t think there is as much pressure on Hackett, though, because his fate is tied to the three men above him. If Douglas, Saleh and Rodgers fail, there will be nothing Hackett can do to save his job. If Hackett does well, Rodgers will get the credit, but his offensive coordinator will get to come back in 2025.
No Jets offensive coordinator has made it to a third season since Brian Schottenheimer was the OC from 2006-11. Will Hackett break that trend?
5. Backup QB to be named later
OK, so this one is a bit of a reach, but I can’t help thinking that whoever the Jets sign to back up Rodgers is going to have some pressure on him. The story of the 2023 season was the Jets did not do a good enough job at backup quarterback. Wilson took a shot from Johnson last week.
Clearly, the Jets are going to spend big money on a veteran backup this time around. It might be Jacoby Brissett or Ryan Tannehill or Gardner Minshew.
If that quarterback has to play in place of Rodgers, there are going to be expectations for them to deliver wins or they will hear “we should have stuck with Zach Wilson.”
Happily ever after
Of course the Super Bowl ended with Mecole Hardman catching the game-winning touchdown. It always comes back to the Jets.
Hardman was one of the strangest stories I can remember while covering the Jets. They were really excited when they signed him as a free agent. Then they didn’t play him.
There were not stories of him being a bad teammate or a bad player, just a bad fit. That is what you kept hearing from people.
The Jets did the right thing when they traded him in October. He got to end his season with a Super Bowl ring and will now forever be part of NFL lore.
That was one strange season.
Stat’s so
Watching the Super Bowl made me wonder who has the most passing yards in the playoffs for the Jets. I thought I would do a top 10 list, but there are only nine players who have completed a pass in the playoffs for the franchise.
So here are the top nine by passing yards in the playoffs:
1. Chad Pennington: 1,166 yards (5 games, 2002-06)
2. Mark Sanchez: 1,155 yards (6 games, 2009-10)
3. Richard Todd: 1,026 yards (4 games, 1981-82)
4. Vinny Testaverde: 908 yards (4 games, 1998-2002)
5. Joe Namath: 641 yards (3 games, 1968-69)
6. Ken O’Brien: 504 yards (3 games, 1985-91)
7. Pat Ryan: 340 yards (6 games, 1981-86)
8. Brad Smith: 45 yards (6 games, 2006-10)
9. Freeman McNeil: 14 yards (8 games, 1981-91)
Source: Stathead