And so the plot thickens.
The New York Jets — no strangers to controversies big or small — have found themselves in the headlines again, and for mostly the wrong reasons.
Earlier this week, the Jets stunned the league when the team abruptly fired head coach Robert Saleh after a pair of rough losses dropped the Jets to 2-3.
And a few days later, the team pulled the trigger on a move that many had assumed ultimately cost Saleh his job.
To wit, speculation ran rampant after Saleh’s firing that there was more to the ouster than just the subpar — but not awful — win-loss record.
Still very much in playoff contention, it makes little sense to fire the coach who’s already had an entire training camp to establish his systems.
Given all that, many fans speculated that quarterback Aaron Rodgers — once-rumored to have been Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vice presidential candidate — played some role in Saleh’s ouster.
Rodgers has forcefully denied any such involvement, but speculation still ran amok due to a report that Saleh had been planning to demote offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, a close friend and confidant of Rodgers.
Many had assumed that Rodgers would chafe at such a notion.
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As ESPN reported, it was more or less Saleh’s final coaching consideration, as he was fired Tuesday while mulling the decision, following a 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday morning.
Between the Hackett report and the fact that Rodgers and Saleh seemingly had a frosty relationship, it’s hard to blame conspiracy theorists for connecting too many dots — but a Thursday update apparently changed all that.
Interim Jets coach Jeff Ulbrich announced that Hackett would, in fact, be “demoted” in the sense that his playcalling responsibilities were being taken away, per ESPN.
(Hackett’s title of offensive coordinator remains unchanged.)
“This is more a byproduct of a different take on things,” Ulbrich explained. “I’m not saying it’s a better or worse take on things by any means, but just a different take on things, a fresh approach.”
Hackett will be replaced by former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing — and Rodgers appeared “supportive” of the decision.
“It was obviously — not necessarily a shock, but we’re familiar with the relationship he has with Nathaniel,” Ulbrich said of Rodgers. “They’re very, very good friends that go back a long way.
“So, he understood the decision and he was supportive of the decision, and I’m fortunate for that.”
While the apparently inevitable Hackett demotion somewhat clears Rodgers’ name, none of that will matter if the Jets don’t beat their division-leading rivals, the Buffalo Bills, on Monday night in a critical home game for New York.
(Though, this writer would be remiss not to point out one of the NFL’s great ironies: The two “New York” teams — the Giants and Jets — actually play in New Jersey, while Buffalo is the lone actual NFL team that plays in New York state.)
The 2-3 Jets can actually sit atop the division in a tie if they can beat the 3-2 Bills on Monday Night Football.
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