The New York Jets are going to have a new quarterback leading the charge on the field and they’ll have a new voice leading the way in the quarterback room.
Head coach Robert Saleh told the media Thursday that pass-game coordinator Todd Downing will serve as the main voice in the quarterback room this season.
“Todd Downing, bringing him also from Tennessee. His experience with quarterbacks, he was with (Matthew) Stafford in the early years of his career. He was with Derek Carr at the early years of his career and obviously with (Ryan) Tannehill during Tannehill’s resurrection, if you will. He comes with a wealth of knowledge of quarterback play, so he’ll be kind of a, God rest his soul, that Knapper (Greg Knapp) role in terms of running the quarterback room and being the main voice in that regard.”
Knapp was hired as the quarterbacks coach in 2021 and started being a voice for a player like Zach Wilson. Unfortunately, Knapp passed away that summer due to injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while riding a bike in California. Matt Cavanaugh was brought in as a senior offensive assistant later in 2021 before Saleh decided not to have someone in that role in 2022 because he wanted to “quiet” the quarterback room.
Now someone will be in that role again in 2023 and that will be Downing, who has the background, as Saleh mentioned, of working with Stafford, Carr and Tannehill. The question now becomes which quarterback will be the main one Downing and quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese will work with next season.