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This is a problem . . .
for two reasons.
The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt reported today – that Elijah Moore told Mike LaFleur to “go f–k yourself” and “you suck” at a practice a few days after he had no catches in a Jets WIN at Green Bay.
First, a player tells a coach to “go f–k yourself.” That is terrible for a football culture. Terrible. You should never talk to your boss that way.
Some people with no virtue on social media will probably tell you, “LaFleur deserved it.”
I’m not writing for those people. LaFleur might not be the best OC, but he’s a very decent man, and you just don’t talk to people that way. People who don’t get that, I can’t relate to them.
And once again, they were coming off a freakin win over the Packers at Lambeau Field.
The Arizona Cardinals just hired a new GM, Monti Ossenfort, who spent most of his career in New England. In his introductory press conference in Arizona on Wednesday, he said:
“We are not just collecting talent. We’re going to build a team. We’re going to look for the right type of players. Ego will not be tolerated in this organization. We will look for focused, driven … people who will put the team first every step of the way.”
Who could argue with this approach?
Moore wasn’t acting like a team-first guy cursing out his offensive coordinator.
The second big problem here is that the Jets might have a leak problem again.
Somebody leaked to Rosenblatt the exact words Moore said to LaFleur at practice following that win in Green Bay.
Somebody also leaked to Rosenblatt that LaFleur told people in the organization that they were more effective offensively with Joe Flacco, Josh Johnson or Mike White than with Zach Wilson.
If the Jets want to build a strong football culture, they must nip this leak stuff in the bud right now. Figure out the perpetrators and get rid of them.
Remember, after the Jets’ loss in New England, a reporter from SNY, the Jets’ media partner, said:
“Sources inside the Jets’ losing locker room told SNY that Wilson was walking around after the game ‘like he isn’t the problem.’ It rubbed more than a few the wrong way, frustrating several others.”