Jets' Aaron Rodgers takes blame for Robert Saleh firing: 'I play better, this doesn't happen'
The Robert Saleh era is over for the New York Jets after three-plus seasons, as team owner Woody Johnson fired the head coach on Tuesday in the wake of the team's 2-3 start and elevated defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim head coach.
Furthermore, Ulbrich took play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in favor of quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Todd Downing despite reports that quarterback Aaron Rodgers' friendship with Hackett may have contributed to Saleh's firing, as the deposed head coach had apparently planned to make the same change.
Who's ultimately to blame for these changes having to be made?
Rodgers expressed to the New York media on Thursday that he feels responsible for Saleh's dismissal.
"The idea of manifestation involves attention and intention, and a word that goes along with that is accountability. We need to be accountable to each other. When something like this happens, it's a reset for everybody. When you make a change on the offense, it's a mirror that's held up for all of us who played, and we all feel terrible about the opportunity that we had — that we squandered — that led to Robert getting fired and Hack getting demoted. I play better, this doesn't happen. We play better on offense, this doesn't happen," Rodgers said, via SNY.
"I think it puts a spotlight on us, and now it's on us to do this. We need to be accountable to each other, and we got to raise the level of our play to the standard that we set during training camp."
Saleh's firing came after the Jets dropped back-to-back games, only mustering 26 total points between a 10-9 loss at home to the Denver Broncos and a 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.
In New York's first five games, Rodgers has totaled 1,093 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, four interceptions and an 81.6 passer rating, while completing 61.0% of his passes, some of the worst marks through this point of the season in the four-time NFL MVP's 17-year career as a starter. Rodgers is in his first full season under center for the Jets, as he suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1 of last season. While he suffered a low-ankle sprain last week, Rodgers isn't expected to miss time.
As a whole, New York's offense is averaging just 206.2 passing yards (19th in the NFL), 80.4 rushing yards (last), 286.6 total yards (27th) and 18.6 points (25th) per game this season.
The Jets went a combined 20-36 under Saleh from 2021-24. Hackett, who was Rodgers' offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers from 2019-21, is in his second season as New York's offensive coordinator, a tenure which began after he was fired 15 games into his first season as the head coach of the Broncos in 2022 (they went 4-11 under Hackett before the change).
As for those who were promoted, Ulbrich had been New York's defensive coordinator since 2021 and Downing was previously the offensive coordinator for the Raiders (2017) and Tennessee Titans (2021-22) before joining the Jets' staff in 2023.
Rodgers and the Jets host the Buffalo Bills (3-2) in Week 6 on Monday night, and could move into first place in the AFC East with a win in that game.
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