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“For the longest time now, I’ve been told that (Joe) Douglas doesn’t exert his power and is not the big dog in the organization that people expect him to be,” wrote Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda. “Some have told me Douglas is, ‘too nice for his own good,’ and doesn’t lay down the hammer when he needs to.”
Is this true?
Well, considering there seemed to be a leak issue, some could say that is a case of him not being tough enough. Whether that is fair or not, if there was indeed a leak issue, the GM has to shoulder some of the blame
They moved on from a front office executive the day The Athletic story came out, so maybe Douglas is now “laying the hammer down.”
While some people want to spin everything and claim the decision to move on from that executive happened a few weeks earlier, but what do you think?
But moving forward, when national insiders come to the Jets camp, Douglas needs to tell his staff to stay the hell away from them.
You always saw some Jets staffers cozying up to national insiders in camp and in press boxes. Joe needs to tell them to knock it off. That isn’t their job!
So maybe that is a case of Joe being too nice, but it seems like he got the message and perhaps is starting to crack down.
When it comes to trades, he’s seemed more than tough enough, like on the Jamal Adams and Sam Darnold deals, where he got back more in return from the other teams than he theoretically should have.
Two first-round picks for a box safety? A second-round pick for Darnold based on how he played for the Jets?
Joe wasn’t too nice negotiating with the Seahawks and Panthers.
But some would argue that Douglas is most comfortable doing personnel stuff, where he made his bones, as a scout and scouting director, but some of the other stuff . . . maybe he doesn’t love that as much.
It just seems like when something major happens in Buffalo, Bills GM Brandon Beane addresses the media. It happens all the time.
With Douglas, it often seems like it’s just that set pattern – bye-week, end-of-the-season, pre-draft and post-draft.
But what about after Aaron Rodgers got hurt in Week 1 last season?
Wouldn’t that have been a good time for the GM to talk to the press and public?
His media schedule seems a little too formulaic. This is when he talks and that is it! Maybe that’s not his fault.
Also, some people think that he defers to his coach too much on personnel decisions, like when they picked two college safeties to make linebackers in this same draft. We know Robert Saleh likes to do that, but why two picks of that nature in the same draft?
Also, this small, quick defensive tackle thing. Douglas needs to put his foot down and say, “Enough of this, we are getting gashed against the run too much.” Teams are moving away from this.
So you could argue that Douglas is very tough in some ways, and not as tough in others.
But it should be pointed out Douglas is now working for somebody who didn’t hire him, and who is a micromanager, so maybe he doesn’t feel as empowered to exert himself as he did under the owner who hired him, who is hands-off, and said he would take a “lighter” approach.
Many of us know what it’s like to be hired by one boss, and that boss leaves, and you have a new boss who didn’t hire you, and the relationship and comfort level are way different. That could be the case here, and it’s impacting Joe’s demeanor.
February 19, 2024
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