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Jets cornerback D.J. Reed made news after the team’s loss in Buffalo by telling “Go Long’s” Tyler Dunne: “I’m ready to go to free agency, bro. I’m ready to see what’s next for me.”
Reed is a good guy and plays his tail off, but this kind of quote might make some coaches a little uncomfortable.
The idea that you are talking about wanting to leave in free agency, when there is a game left to play, might lead some coaches to make the player inactive for the season finale.
Do you think a player saying something like that would sit well with a Bill Belichick or Bill Parcells?
it’s a bad culture quote.
If this was a coach early in his tenure with a team, a coach trying to establish a culture, the coach might have a big issue with this.
However, with an interim coach and staff that is gone after this season, the quote is probably a nothing burger.
And also Reed is very popular in the building because he’s a very decent guy, so I don’t think it will impact his status on Sunday.
But as Mike Tomlin once famously said, “We want volunteers not hostages.”
At this point with all the losing and lousy pass rush in front of him, Reed is probably a little bit of a hostage, and that is why he wants a change of scenery after the season . . .
Woody Johnson, Christopher Johnson, Ira Axselrad and others were spotted having lunch at 1 Jets Drive today.
Obviously these guys have some heavy stuff going on right now as they look for a new coach and GM . . .
One of the most bizarre scoops you see on the internet right now is the Jets are expected to move on from Aaron Rodgers because of a supposed bad relationship with Woody Johnson.
You can “Google” it. It’s all over the internet. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to “Google” the Jets less in 2025. Most of the stuff that pops up is absurd and often not steeped in reality. In other words, it’s clickbait.
My understanding is that Woody is going to let the new GM and a coach decide Rodgers’ future.
And that is the way it should be.
Let’s say a candidate looks at Rodgers’ tape from games like Miami and Jacksonville and says, “I want that guy as my QB next year,” and Woody says, “No, we are getting rid of him because I don’t like him.”
The whole idea of this extensive GM and HC search is to find two great candidates to turn the Jets around, and you are going to tell those people, “No, you can’t decide to keep a 4-time NFL MVP QB if you so choose.” How would that make any sense?
I’m not saying Rodgers is coming back for sure, but I can assure you nothing has been decided yet . . .
There is no doubt that if the Jets want to turn this thing around, it’s best for Woody to hire a talented, experienced GM/HC duo and let them do their thing, with little interference. We all know that.
And there is no doubt Woody went a little overboard this year making major football decisions, and he needs to pull back if they want to achieve high-level success.
However, watching the Jets’ 40-14 loss to the Bills again, you see some of the major mistakes from the former GM and coach, especially on defense, and why the owner went a little crazy this year and perhaps did some irrational things.
There are so many problems with that defense, I don’t know where to start, from personnel decisions to scheme to accountability to discipline. It’s a train wreck, and most of the blame for that goes on the former GM and coach. I know Jeff Ulbrich has been the defensive coordinator since 2021, but this is the former head coach’s scheme and the former GM’s players.
As I said the other day, there are three or four defensive linemen on the Jets’ active roster that like would not be on any other team’s active roster.
And remember, Woody fired Douglas after a 31-6 loss to Arizona, a game that Kyler Murray looked like Tom Brady. Have you seen him since that game? The Cardinals have lost five of their six games since then with the only win being over New England.
Once again, Woody should try to avoid meddling, but watching that Arizona game, you can almost understand the owner firing somebody.
Whatever you think of Woody as an owner, after watching a game like we saw in Glendale, wouldn’t you say – “What the hell was that?”
This defense needs to be blown up after the season – they need a new scheme, a lot of new players and a lot more discipline.
January 2, 2025
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