Robert Saleh no longer rooting for just the defense in practice: ‘It’s been different’

Robert Saleh has spent his first spring as a head coach evening out his rooting interests and adjusting to calling the shots.

The Jets have not had a head coach who focused on more than one side of the ball in a while.

For Todd Bowles and Rex Ryan, it was defense. Both left the direction of New York’s offense up to their respective offensive coordinators and seldom focused on anything but their defensive responsibilities. The roles were reversed under Adam Gase, as he left Gang Green’s defense up to Gregg Williams — and Frank Bush after Williams was fired at the end of last season — and kept his nose buried in his uninspiring offensive playbook.

Robert Saleh is a defensive mind, but he is approaching his first NFL head-coaching job with a desire to be involved in all three facets of the game. Even though defense is where Saleh’s heart truly lies, he is adjusting to no longer rooting for just that side of the ball in his first minicamp with the Jets.

“I messed with the players the other day. I said, ‘Hey, I’m rolling with whoever has the best day, so it doesn’t matter to me, ‘” Saleh said Tuesday. “I’m just a fan of whoever’s doing great.

“To sit back and have an appreciation for all three phases and the work that’s being put in and really getting a chance to listen to the coaches coach and the coordinators interacting with not only players, but coaches, and just making sure everything is going the way you want it to go, obviously, it’s an adjustment and it’s been different. But both have been an awesome experience.”

Evening out his rooting interests is not the only adjustment Saleh has had to make during his first spring as a head coach. Navigating the waters of an offseason is much different as a coordinator and Saleh has had to learn the best way to run the show on the fly.

Nonetheless, New York’s rookie head coach has made the most of the situation thanks to the support system in place at One Jets Drive.

“It’s been great,” Saleh said. “We’ve been very fortunate. We have a tremendous staff and sports staff. Joe [Douglas] and his staff have been very receptive. They’ve been awesome. The players are such great character individuals and I mean that. You see it on the practice field, they’ve got a lot of energy. There’s a lot of positivity to them.

“There’s a lot of juice in the building. This spring has been fantastic and we’re looking forward to training camp. I really am. I’m excited to see adversity. I’m excited to see how we can handle it and see where we’re at from that regard, because, like I’ve said, that’s where character reveals itself.”

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Joe Douglas talks Jets coaching search, firing Gase, Darnold’s future

Here are the main takeaways from Joe Douglas’s season-ending press conference.

Joe Douglas had a chance to share his outlook on the Jets’ future on Tuesday as he gets set to embark on his first head-coaching hire.

Douglas talked about how difficult it was for the Jets to fire Adam Gase, the traits he wants in a new head coach, Sam Darnold’s future and some other offseason goals.

The Jets’ general manager was disappointed in the team’s performance this season, but Douglas is excited for what the future holds heading into the offseason.

4 positions the Jets still need to improve at

Jets Wire takes a look at four positions that New York still needs to improve before Week 1 of the regular season rolls around.

There is no doubt that the Jets got better this offseason, but there is still work to be done before New York can seriously contend for an AFC East title.

Despite all of the work general manager Joe Douglas has put in throughout his first offseason on the job, holes on the roster remain. No NFL roster is perfect, but New York’s remaining weaknesses are the difference between contending and competing for draft positioning at season’s end.

So, which positions still need some work before the regular season rolls around? Let’s take a look.

Wide Receiver

Losing Robby Anderson in free agency hurt, but Joe Douglas moved swiftly to fill the void with another speed demon by signing Breshad Perriman. He followed that move up by taking Denzel Mims, who has the potential to develop into a very good player, in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Douglas’ last two moves to address the receiver position are positives, but there is still something missing from the unit. There is no true No. 1 target for Sam Darnold to throw to and past Perriman, Mims and Jamison Crowder, there is not much depth.

Trading for a proven top receiver would do wonders for the wide receiver room, but that’s an unlikely move considering teams are not exactly shopping around their star wideouts right now. At the very least, the Jets need to add another veteran body before training camp kicks off. If that doesn’t happen, the lack of depth at the position could come back to haunt New York in 2020.

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4 positions the Jets improved the most at this offseason

Jets Wire takes a look at the four positions the Jets improved at the most this offseason.

The Jets got better this offseason.

It might not seem like it since general manager Joe Douglas did not bring in any big-name free agents or did not make a sexy first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but New York quietly took strides towards competing for a playoff spot with the moves it made over the last couple of months.

It doesn’t always take a splash in free agency or the draft to upgrade a roster. Douglas addressed numerous holes and bolstered units in need of additional depth. He didn’t steal the headlines while doing so, but he accomplished his goal nonetheless.

So, which positions did the Jets improve at the most this offseason? Let’s take a look.

Quarterback

All it took was one signing and a draft pick for Douglas to make New York’s quarterback room a bit more inspiring entering 2020.

Following a season in which the Jets suffered from a lack of depth at the position when Sam Darnold was forced out of action, Douglas selected James Morgan in the fourth-round of the 2020 NFL Draft before signing veteran Joe Flacco less than a month ago.

Morgan was more of a developmental pick, but has the makings of New York’s backup of the future. Flacco, meanwhile, gives the Jets a reliable No. 2 signal caller and a potential mentor for Darnold.

Considering Gang Green’s personnel at the position last season, there is no doubt this unit got a lot better this offseason.

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7 moves the Jets can still make before training camp

Jets Wire takes a look at seven moves the Jets can still make before training camp begins in late July.

There is still plenty of time for Jets general manager Joe Douglas to improve New York’s roster before the beginning of training camp in late July.

Douglas has spent all offseason positioning the Jets to look more like a contender than a team still rebuilding in 2020. He put together a draft class that was met with almost universally positive reviews and did well to add some new talent at relatively cheap rates in free agency. There is still more work that can be done, though.

Armed with $14.2 million in salary cap space with another $11 million in cap relief coming on Monday thanks to the release of Trumaine Johnson, Douglas has enough ammunition to get New York’s roster exactly where he wants it to be before the offseason ends.

With that being said, here are seven moves that Douglas can make to not only bring more talent to One Jets Drive, but also to free up the money necessary to add such talent.

Sign Larry Warford

It’s hard to believe that Larry Warford is still a free agent.

Warford, who turns 29 in mid-June, is coming off three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and is arguably at the top of his game right now. He has plenty of good football left ahead of him and his arrival in New York would give the Jets an elite run blocker.

Considering the emphasis Joe Douglas has placed on upgrading in the trenches throughout the offseason, there is no reason to pass up on a player of Warford’s caliber as long as he is not asking for an exorbitant amount of money.

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WATCH: Sam Darnold finds time to throw in the California sun

Sam Darnold was throwing passes on a California beach alongside his trainer Jordan Palmer.

Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is staying fresh throughout the virtual offseason program, throwing passes on the beach.

Darnold’s trainer, Jordan Palmer, recently took a video of him working on his footwork, as well as Darnold throwing a deep ball down the beach.

Even on a beach day, Sam Darnold gets his work in 😎

(via IG/jordanpalmer) pic.twitter.com/doOFLoMUAw

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) May 16, 2020

Darnold has spent the offseason working with Palmer, focusing primarily on improving his arm strength and deep ball accuracy. He’s also been joined by his good friends and fellow NFL quarterbacks Josh Allen and Kyle Allen.

With NFL training facilities temporarily closed as well as most fields, Darnold had to get creative to get some throws in. The beaches in Southern California are open as long as social distancing guidelines are followed.

For the Jets, it may be a while before their training facility opens back up. All but 10 teams are set to reopen their training facilities on Monday, but the Jets are not one of the teams that can open theirs. The state of New Jersey still has restrictions in place that prevent the Jets from opening their facility.

At least Darnold is making good use of his time throughout this public health crisis by staying in shape and working on his craft.

The pros and cons of the Jets trading Jamal Adams

Jets Wire breaks down the pros and cons of trading All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.

Could Jamal Adams’ time in the Big Apple be nearing its end?

New York’s All-Pro safety does not plan on participating in the NFL’s voluntary virtual offseason program next month. That news comes as his representation and the Jets struggle to come to terms on a contract extension that would keep Adams with the team for the foreseeable future.

Adams and the Jets had preliminary contract talks before the NFL combine in February, but general manager Joe Douglas has made it clear that draft preparations are paramount to any contract negotiations right now. This has left the door for Adams to be dealt either in the days leading up to the draft or on draft night.

So, what are the pros and cons of parting ways with Adams? Let’s take a look.

Pro: The Haul

If the Jets opt to trade Adams, there is no doubt they will get a massive haul in exchange for his services.

Adams was a first-team All-Pro last season and is arguably the best safety in football. Considering he is only 24 and has yet to hit his prime, Adams’ value is at an all-time high.

Any team interested in trading for Adams will have to pony up and make Joe Douglas an offer that gives New York enough to replace an elite defensive centerpiece. That means multiple first-round picks and maybe even a young talent. If contract talks with Adams continue to go nowhere, it will be hard for Douglas and the Jets to say no.

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Jets release S Blake Countess, save $1.2 million in cap space

The Jets have released Blake Countess and saved $1.2 million in cap space.

The Jets saved a little money on Wednesday, releasing safety Blake Countess. In doing so, the team cleared $1.2 million in cap space, per OverTheCap.

Countess was signed by the Jets in October and was active for six games. However, he didn’t record any statistics in 2019.

Countess was a sixth-round pick by the Eagles in 2016 out of Auburn. He didn’t play any games with the Eagles, though, as he was cut before the start of the 2016 season. The Rams picked him up after that; he was in Los Angeles for three seasons.

As a Ram, Countess had 54 total tackles, three pass defenses, two interceptions and one sack in 37 total games. He made one more stop in Philadelphia before coming to the Jets in 2019.

Jets should acquire a plumber to fix their leaks this offseason

The Jets have a problem when it comes to leaking information that negatively portrays their players.

The Jets have plenty of holes to address on their roster, but those are not the only problems that need addressing this offseason.

Throughout Adam Gase’s first-year as head coach, One Jets Drive mimicked a leaky faucet with all the information that spilled out of it. Beginning with the reported power struggle between Gase and Mike Maccagnan (which wound up being true), 2019 was a year filled with tidbits that should have been kept in house instead of filtered out to the media.

If you thought 2020 meant new year, new Jets in terms of keeping things in the building, think again. New York went all of January without any major leaks slipping out into the public, but anyone familiar with the organization knew it was only a matter of time before either someone was being thrown under the bus or being purposely portrayed in a negative light.

Earlier this week, ESPN reported that the Jets felt running back Le’Veon Bell gained weight through the season and lost explosiveness as a result. Whether or not that claim has any credence is irrelevant. What really matters is the continuation of a disturbing trend that seemingly has no end.

Bell has spent less than a calendar year with the Jets and has had all kinds of things leaked about him. First it was that Gase did not want to break the bank and give him the money Maccagnan did to bring him to the Big Apple. Then it was a week’s worth of rumors that Bell would be traded at the deadline. Now, in the middle of the offseason without absolutely nothing going on, Bell allegedly got fat and his production dropped because of that.

As Bleacher Report’s Connor Rogers suggested on Twitter, it’s obvious where these leaks are coming from. Gase and his offensive coaching staff clearly have an agenda. Gase never wanted to pay big bucks for a running back — a position he clearly thinks can be filled on a rotational basis instead of by one player making over $50 million. How have they decided to hammer home this point? By leaking things to the media any chance they get.

The Jets are embarrassing themselves at this point. There is no reason to leak information to the media to make a player look bad. In Bell’s case, it seems like Gase and his offensive staff are more interested in making a statement than looking out for their player. There is no way to know for sure who is leaking stuff to the media, but it’s relatively easy to follow a paper trail. Regardless of who is responsible for the leaks, the bottom line is that they make the organization look petty. Especially considering Bell has said and done all the right things since joining Gang Green.

New York has a big offseason ahead of itself. First-year general manager Joe Douglas is tasked with filling numerous holes on both sides of the football through free agency and the draft in the hope that the Jets can contend as soon as next season. Before Douglas can worry about addressing his roster, though, he is going to have to take care of a bigger issue at hand.

He’s going to have to hire a plumber to stop the leaks that make the team he runs look more like a circus than a professional sports franchise. Until then, dysfunction will continue to follow the Jets.

Robby Anderson believes Jets want him back in New York

The Jets have told free agent wide receiver Robby Anderson that they’d like to re-sign him.

The New York Jets are getting a head start on trying to keep their own free agents.

Robby Anderson spoke to the media at the Miami Convention Center on Wednesday and discussed his upcoming free agency. Anderson has made it publicly known that he’d like to stay with the Jets for years to come, but it wasn’t known if the Jets felt the same way. Now, according to Anderson, the Jets have made their intentions known.

“I know they’ve communicated that they do want me back,” Anderson said Wednesday, according to Newsday. “So, we’ve just got to see how it plays out.”

The specifics of a new deal have yet to be discussed, though. However, Anderson is seeking between $13-15 million annually, according to a previous report from The Athletic’s Connor Hughes.

“I don’t think they’ve gotten to numbers,” Anderson said, “but I know obviously they want to be at the table, and I think they’re planning to be at the table to keep me in-house.”

Anderson said at the end of the season that he would keep his options open in free agency and that he has no plans of giving the Jets a hometown discount.

The fourth-year wideout out of Temple had one of the best seasons of his career in 2019. He recorded 52 catches for 779 yards and five touchdowns. Most of that came at the end of the season when the Jets offense started to come together.

If Joe Douglas can lock Anderson up before he hits the open market, it would be one less thing the general manager has to worry about during free agency.