Robert Saleh discusses what's different about second year of Jets' Aaron Rodgers era
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
During a recent conversation with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh acknowledged that "last year was different" from what he experienced this spring regarding the excitement caused by the franchise acquiring quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers in April 2023.
"Not to say that one was better than the other, but this is very business-like," Saleh said about how the Jets tackled the offseason leading up to their ongoing summer break. "I feel like our guys have shown up. They’ve shown up to work. There’s less hoopla around the team. I think our guys are locked in, and they’re focused. I really do believe that we had a really, really productive offseason."
Last summer, Jets players openly discussed the Super Bowl expectations that hovered over the organization before Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles just four offensive snaps into the regular-season opener.
Per ESPN stats, a Jets offense that featured Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle as temporary replacements for Rodgers finished the campaign ranked 31st in the NFL with an average of 268.6 yards per game and 29th with an average of 15.8 points scored per contest.
New York won a meaningless Week 18 matchup to end the season at 7-10.
"We went into last offseason, first year in the new offense, first year with a Hall of Fame quarterback, and we installed an offense designed for 17 games worth of Aaron Rodgers," Saleh explained. "When he got hurt, we still wanted to maintain what we installed. Maybe it wasn’t as much as Aaron would have done. But we wanted to keep the same philosophy of what we’re trying to get done."
The Jets reportedly explored replacing offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett with somebody "who would run the show" but instead are running it back with the man who first served as Rodgers' OC from 2019 through the 2021 season.
Saleh and others within the organization clearly expect a healthy Rodgers will produce better results under Hackett for a club toughened by all that occurred last season beginning on the evening of Sept. 11.
"I think every time you go through the adversity that we went through or a team or an organization goes through, you’re always going to experience a tremendous amount of growth," Saleh told Breer. "Last year, personally, as a team, the schemes that we run, the way that we do things, I learned a lot about our process. Through all that adversity, I think we’re going to come out the other end being a lot better."
The Jets believe free-agency pickup Tyrod Taylor is an upgrade at backup quarterback but also hope he won't see the field for anything other than mop-up duties from the Week 1 game at the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9 through at least a single postseason contest.
Even if that's the case, recent history suggests Taylor won't guide the Jets to where they want to go if Rodgers begins a second consecutive January as a sidelined spectator.
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