Robert Saleh was as shocked as anyone by his firing Tuesday morning.
The now-former Jets head coach was “blindsided” by owner Woody Johnson walking into his office and telling him he was making a coaching change, Saleh told Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer.
“Certainly disappointed he wasn’t going to be given the opportunity to get things going with what he said is a very good roster,” Glazer added.
The Jets entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations with Aaron Rodgers having recovered from the torn Achilles he suffered four plays into the first game of the 2023 season, crushing the hopes the franchise had for a rejuvenation after courting Rodgers in the offseason.
But the Jets fell to 2-3 on Sunday with a 23-17 loss to Sam Darnold and the Vikings in London in which the offense struggled mightily, with Rodgers throwing three interceptions.
It was perhaps a bad sign when linebacker Quincy Williams told SNY after Sunday’s loss that “people gotta start taking accountability. People get tired of hearing the same thing every week.”
Follow the latest on the New York Jets firing head coach Robert Saleh:
- Robert Saleh shockingly fired by Jets five games into season
- Jets name Robert Saleh’s replacement after firing
- Woody Johnson: Why I fired Robert Saleh as Jets coach
- Fans, pundits believe Aaron Rodgers was behind Robert Saleh’s Jets firing
Saleh, 45, had a 20-36 record as the Jets head coach.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Much of the speculation after Saleh’s firing has centered on his relationship with Rodgers and whether the quarterback had any role in Johnson’s decision.
Eyebrows were raised when Rodgers, who had frequently attended voluntary OTAs during the offseason, missed the Jets’ mandatory minicamp due to a preplanned trip to Egypt.
Saleh dubbed it an “unexcused” absence for Rodgers and he was fined for not attending, but both the coach and quarterback insisted their relationship was in good standing.
During the Jets’ win over the Patriots last month, Rodgers pushed Saleh away as the coach tried to hug the quarterback in an awkward moment, though they both said it wasn’t what it seemed.
Saleh then brought up Rodgers’ cadence as the possible reason for the handful of false-start penalties the Jets committed in a loss to the Broncos, and Rodgers seemed miffed by the idea of potentially reducing the cadence.
“I think there’s some driving force to try and put a wedge [from] outside the facility between Robert and I,” Rodgers said Friday in London. “But, you know, we’re really good friends. We enjoy each other and we spend time [together]. Almost every day, I’m in his office talking about things and talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team, what we need to get done, how I can help him out, how he can help me out. So we’ve got a great relationship.”
