“I don’t do playoff mandates. Mandates don’t work.”
That’s what New York Jets owner Woody Johnson told the media Thursday when asked if the current regime has to make the playoffs in 2023. So at face value, you might think he just wants to keep seeing progress from head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas.
But if you read between the lines, you can tell deep down he wants a playoff berth next season. “I want to win,” Johnson said Thursday. “This team is loaded and ready to go.”
“We’ve had a long wait,” Johnson said. “Fifty-four years from the last Super Bowl is too long, way too long. I’d like to change that fast, but mandates don’t work.”
54 years since their last Super Bowl and 12 years since they’ve even reached the postseason. Sure, mandates don’t work he’ll say and he may not be able to change his fortunes as fast as he’d like he’ll say, but eventually, he’ll grow frustrated with the lack of success. In fact, some of that frustration set in during the six-game losing streak because he sees the talent, especially on defense, and believes this team is ready to make a run.
“Our defense was an unbelievable story you saw this year, from last place to close to the top in defense in terms of every measurable,” he said. “If you can do the same thing on offense, it looks pretty good, right?”
That defense included rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner, who became the first rookie cornerback to be voted First-Team All-Pro since Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott in 1981.
Gardner also made the guarantee after the season finale against the Miami Dolphins that the Jets will make the playoffs in 2023.
That offense starts with the quarterback, specifically good quarterback play, which Johnson said is the “missing piece” to the offense. As a result, Johnson said he is “absolutely” open to Douglas going out and exploring paying big money for a veteran quarterback.
Could that mean Derek Carr? Jimmy Garoppolo? Perhaps even Aaron Rodgers? Time will tell.
Another question to answer is the future of Zach Wilson, who may be set for a backup role in 2023. Johnson still sounds like a believer in Wilson’s talent.
“Zach had a tough year, there’s no denying that,” Johnson said. “I still have confidence that I’ve seen some kernels of real talent there. … [His] confidence level, whatever it was, went down, so that was certainly frustrating for him. And then we had that rotation, which is very hard to do in the NFL — changing quarterbacks.”
Johnson even acknowledged that Wilson should have sat behind a veteran as a rookie. The problem was there wasn’t a veteran for Wilson to sit behind and there wasn’t much of a competition in camp. Not like James Morgan was going to beat out the No. 2 overall pick fresh off an incredible final season at BYU.
Douglas is entering Year 5 as general manager and Saleh is entering Year 3. They have yet to have a winning record and only once has Douglas not finished in last place in the AFC East (2019).
Saleh is now looking for his second offensive coordinator with Mike LaFleur off to pursue other opportunities, as the Jets put it. Johnson told the media he wasn’t part of the “decision-making tree” in LaFleur moving on and that he didn’t force any decision on Saleh regarding the now-former offensive coordinator.
However, according to a report from Jordan Schultz of The Score, Johnson has been “adamant” with Saleh that an upheaval of the offensive staff is necessary. That includes LaFleur, offensive line coach John Benton and quarterbacks coach Robert Calabrese.
#Jets owner Woody Johnson has been adamant with HC Robert Saleh that the the offensive staff’s upheaval is necessary – including OC Mike LaFleur, OL coach John Benton and the likely firing of QBs coach Robert Calabrese, sources tell @theScore.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 12, 2023
The Jets are also going their separate ways with Benton but, for now, Calabrese is still with the team. That could change when the Jets find their new offensive coordinator.
Yes, they did win seven games this season, but they reached their 7th win in their 11th game. Injuries obviously played a huge factor, but to get to 7-4 and miss the playoffs is frustrating for any franchise, especially one that holds the longest postseason drought in the entire NFL. Johnson wants to win and he wants to win now.