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A whirlwind week in Florham Park. A lot going on – a number of different interesting stories. For a 3-11 team, a lot of news around this team.
One thing we haven’t touched on here was Woody Johnson’s twitter mistake.
A fan tweeted at Johnson, “You really need to fire Idzik at this point. This roster is garbagio.”
Johnson “favorited” the tweet.
What that means, for the uninitiated, is that he hit a button, which allows you to make that tweet one of your favorites.
The Jets said he “inadvertently” hit that button.
That is probably what happened.
Even if Johnson intends on firing Idzik, “favoriting” that tweet, really serves no purpose.
That wouldn’t be very becoming of an owner.
That is something your nine-year-old nephew might do, not a 67-year-old NFL owner.
It was a mistake.
But honestly, Woody should stay off twitter. I know that Jacksonville owner Shad Khan does. Sure other owners stay away as well (I just know Khan has said publicly he won’t do it).
Woody, if you want to connect with your fans better, make the changes necessary to improve that team. I’m not being flippant. This “man of the people” stuff doesn’t go very far if you are losing.
So what is Woody going to do after this season?
One person in the building put it this way, “Nobody knows what Woody is thinking.”
Maybe his wife and Ira Akselrad know what he has planned, but he’s been very guarded with his thinking at the training complex . . .
Rex Ryan was asked about Josh Thomas’ comments that he wasn’t coached while with the Jets, and he called the story “humorous.”
Honestly, I don’t find it humorous at all.
I know as a reporter, it’s important I stay dispassionate, but as a football lover, I’m not going to lie, this story bothered me. A kid desperately wanted to coached-up, and he says he wasn’t.
Rex can’t be as dismissive as he likes on this story. That is his right. And also, a smart career move. If you are Atlanta owner Arthur Blank, and you read that story, you might think twice about hiring the coach.
Seriously, what Thomas said is quite an allegation against some.
“I feel like I wasn’t given the attention necessary as far as being engaged from the coach-to-player standpoint and knowing the things I need to work on,” said Thomas, now with the Detroit Lions. “It became where I was there as a player and wanting and desiring some feedback that wasn’t given.
“I just want to be great. I want to get better every day. I look forward to enhancing something about my game every day, and (the Jets) were just more independent there. Had to figure my playbook out on my own. You know, so, I just really missed what I needed to improve, really missed that feedback.”
Let me make something clear. I’m not totally blaming Rex for this. He’s got a lot on his plate. He can’t handle the coaching of every position. He’s not in every meeting room.
It’s quite possible that Rex didn’t know this was going on. He’s not omnipresent.
But I’m not going to be dismissive of this like others have been.
There are some things that need to change around that place. I will leave it at that . . .
Another big story this week was the plane flying over the complex telling Woody Johnson to “Fire John Idzik.” This is the second time this plane gimmick was used by a grass roots movement attempting to get the GM fired.
At the Jets-New England game on Sunday, these activists are going to hand out yellow towels (kind of like the “Terrible Towels” that are common in Pittsburgh), and towels have the message on them – “Attention Woody, Fire Glat, Fire Bradway, Fire Idzik – Clean House!”
Like I said before, the “Fire Glat” part is a waste of energy. He’s not going anywhere. As for Bradway, that will be determined by a new GM, if Idzik is fired.
As for Idzik, like I said before, people in the building have no idea what Woody is thinking.
I’ve always felt the best way for Idzik to survive is to hire a big-time coach, like Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban, whatever name you want to fill in the blank with, and in doing so, he stays as GM, BUT, no longer has final say on the personnel. Any major coaching candidate is going to want final say.
Chip Kelly has final say in Philly, so Idzik would be like Howie Roseman, where he is a GM doing the contracts and gathering personnel info, and the coach makes all the decisions.
We will see.
December 19, 2014
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