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This has not been . . .
. . . the best few months for Jets owner Christopher Johnson with how he’s team has fared.
Clearly the timing of the Mike Maccagnan firing in the middle of May threw a monkey wrench into the Jets’ football operation. You have a roster mostly constructed by a man who isn’t here anymore, and the coach and GM clearly not enamored with the roster they were given.
It’s not that the firing of Maccagnan was necessarily wrong move. He’s a very nice man, but might have been a little over his head, and also allowed himself to be influenced too much by an inexperienced sidekick (BH).
But Johnson deserves a little credit for something he’s allowed Joe Douglas to do the last couple of weeks.
He’s allowing Douglas to be very proactive in putting veterans on IR, and signing and claiming other players.
You might say this goes on all over the place? True, but what I’m talking about here is a little more nuanced.
The Jets put CB Trumaine Johnson, LB Albert McClellan and WR Josh Bellamy on IR this week.
None of these players necessarily have season ending injuries. Johnson has sprained ankles, McClellan has a concussion and Bellamy (shoulder). While they are all still banged up right now, all three had a chance to return this season. It’s not like any of them tore his ACL.
But Johnson has allowed his GM to put guys on injured reserve, eat the salaries, and star adding players to replace them, looking to improve the team down the stretch, and obviously in 2020.
The Jets claimed cornerback Maurice Canady from Baltimore who is expected to see action immediately. The same with street free agent, inside linebacker Paul Worrilow, who had retired in Baltimore this preseason for family reasons, but now he’s ready to resume. He has 52 career starts in Atlanta and Detroit.
The IR moves also allowed them to keep running back Josh Adams, who another team was attempting to sign off their practice squad.
You have to give Johnson credit for willing to eat the salaries of Johnson, Bellamy and McClellan by moving them to IR, perhaps prematurely, especially Johnson, who makes a fortune.
So while this has not been the best season for Johnson with his hand picked coach struggling, you have to give him credit for this proactive IR approach. Notice I didn’t criticize Johnson for his hand-picked GM because it’s way to early to pass judgement on Joe Douglas, who arrived in early June, after the draft, and most of free agency. Douglas made a big mistake with his choice for kicker in Week One, but for the most part, has little to do with this mess. He has a great reputation in the NFL as a talent judge, so his work in 2020 will be a good time to start judging him.
But it was smart of Johnson to allow Douglas to be proactive putting guys on IR, and start adding talent in the middle of this current dumpster fire, to get a head start on fixing this hot mess. . . .
November 7, 2019
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