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There was so much talk through the off-season . . .
. . . about what a great job Robert Saleh and his coaching staff did getting on the same page with Joe Douglas and his personnel department.
Remember, the scouting department had to change what they were looking for at certain positions starting in January, with a coaching change.
“Coach Saleh and his staff did an outstanding job when they first got here in terms of meeting with us, with the personnel staff, and kind of going over the specific characteristics they want in players, and our college scouts did a great job of adjusting and finding the guys that fit those characteristics,” Jets Player Personnel Director Chad Alexander told newyorkjets.com.
And based on the the free agent and draft classes the Jets were able to bring in, featuring so many good systems fits, it looks like they came together fast.
However, there might be an even bigger challenge ahead that will test relationships to a degree, and that is making cuts in training camp, especially going from 90 players to 85 on Aug. 17, 80 on Aug. 24 and 53 on Aug. 31.
While Douglas has the final say on the roster, he doesn’t want to be a totalitarian dictator who forces players on Saleh and his assistants, with little regard for their opinions.
Expect those meetings late in the camp, expecially going from 80 to 53, to get testy at times. It’s the nature of the business.
“There are times where there are some pretty heated discussionsm,” Jets assistant GM Rex Hogan told the team’s website. “Guys are opinionated, but that is good, but it’s good to have that conviction. We will just continue to hash it out. It’s not always going to be everyone is on the same page and sees guys the same way, which is a good thing.”
Remember, there are still a lot of players on the roster from before Saleh and company arrived in January, and many of them were added by Douglas and his staff in 2020, when Adam Gase was the coach.
So it’s not just the case of a new regime coming in and cleaning house, with a new GM and coach arriving at the same time, like Atlanta this year. The hirings of Douglas and Saleh were a year apart, which is very unusual.
For instance, Douglas picked guard Cam Clark last year to play in Gase’s system, and the new staff might say, he doesn’t fit what they are doing. How would Douglas feel about moving on from the player after a year? I’m not saying he is looking to move on from Clark, just bringing up a hypothetical scenario to make a point.
I’m telling you, these late summer meetings are going to be quite challenge foe Douglas, Saleh and company, with a lot of very tough decisions.
But Saleh wants everyone to be blunt about how they feel.
“We don’t want groupthink,” Saleh told the team’s website. “We don’t want everyone thinking the same. I think it’s very healthy when people have disagreements over players and there is a discussion and different things being talked about when you are going through the evaluation process. You want things challenged.”
And those late August meetings, expecially the one where they need to get from 80 to 53, a lot of opinions are going to be challenged.
July 12, 2021
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