As it turns out, there was not a lot of gas and plenty of brake during the Robert Saleh era.
The New York Jets stunningly moved on from the head coach after Week 5, ending the brief working relationship between the head coach and Aaron Rodgers, whom the Jets traded for in 2023.
Rodgers played only four snaps for the Jets last season before injuring his Achilles, leaving some to wonder what the Saleh-Rodgers working relationship would look like when they were all-systems-go. As it turns out, it wasn’t pretty: The Jets offense has sputtered this season and New York sits at 2-3 entering a crucial matchup vs. Buffalo in Week 6.
While there was never true, outward acrimony between the head coach and his future Hall of Fame quarterback, there were a number of instances since the beginning of the year that maybe showed a small bit of a fracture between the player and the coach.
Here’s what they were:
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Aaron Rodgers’ Egypt vacation
While it sounds like a National Lampoon movie, Aaron Rodgers’ Egypt vacation raised some eyebrows, seemingly including that of the head coach.
Saleh’s response to Rodgers skipping out on mandatory minicamp was the first sign of trouble in paradise this year. Saleh announced that Rodgers was fined for missing on mandatory minicamp, for an ‘inexcused absence.’
While Saleh leaned on the CBA as reason for why it was labeled ‘inexcused,’ some weren’t satisfied with the coach’s explanation.
‘Selfishly, I want our guys here all the time, but when you get to these mandatory things, you make the best decision for yourself,’ Saleh told reporters at Jets headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey. ‘Obviously, selfishly, want all of the team here all the time. But he made a decision, and that’s where he went.’
Rodgers would later downplay any notions that he and the head coach were split over the decision for his to make his trip. Still, it was a few weeks of headlines and distractions that, potentially, could have been avoided.
The Aaron Rodgers-Robert Saleh non-hug
If there was ever an exemplary moment of the Rodgers-Saleh relationship not being rosy, this was it. And it happened on national TV, too.
Following a scoring play during a ‘Thursday Night Football’ matchup between the New England Patriots and the Jets, Saleh went in for a hug for Rodgers, which the quarterback turned away in an awkward moment.
Both would, again, downplay the incident following the game. Still, it was a confusing bit of chemistry – or lack thereof – between the coach and the player.
‘He’s not a big hugger,’ Rodgers told reporters. ‘I didn’t know he was going for a hug.’
Both offered somewhat confusing explanations for the moment, including something about the Jets needing to go up a few scores. Still, it was more than a little weird.
The Aaron Rodgers-Robert Saleh ‘cadence’ debate
The most recent example of a potential disconnect between the two sides happened after the Jets’ disastrous Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos, during which they scored just nine points and committed a bevy of penalties on the offensive side of the ball.
A decent amount of those penalties came pre-snap, with several false starts coming on Rodgers’ signature hard count cadence. Following the game, Saleh made it clear that, perhaps the Jets aren’t jelling well enough to utilize the tool.
‘We’ve got to figure it out,’ Saleh said following the game. ‘Whether or not we’re good enough or ready to handle all the cadence. Cadence had not been an issue all camp. Felt like our operation had been operating pretty good. Obviously, today, it took a major step back.’
Rodgers took issue with Saleh saying that the cadence was potentially an issue, explaining that toning back on the cadence issue was only one solution. The other: Hold players accountable for their mistakes.
‘That’s one way to do it,’ Rodgers said. ‘The other way is to hold them accountable. We haven’t had an issue. … It’s been a weapon. We use it every day in practice. We rarely have a false start, and to have five today, it seemed like, four or five, it seems like an outlier. I don’t know if we need to make mass changes based on kind of an outlier game.’
In the following days, Saleh would walk back his comments on the cadence, saying there was no issue. Now, one of the biggest issues Saleh has is wondering where his next job will be.
