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The New York Jets have made plenty of splashes this offseason but we haven’t heard a peep from the head coach.
That is until Robert Saleh broke his silence during a sit-down interview with Steve Wyche of the NFL Network at the Annual League Meeting.
“I think (general manager) Joe (Douglas) has done a really nice job adding some really cool pieces to the football team, but, yeah, quiet,” Saleh explained to Wyche on Sunday, March 24 regarding the Jets’ free agency to date. “Last year was a little loud. We welcome a little bit of quietness.”
So far the green and white have spent over $64.4 million in a combination of free agency moves and trade, per Spotrac.
Robert Saleh Is Liking the Foundation Being Built
The Jets had massive expectations last year but they were quickly robbed away after Aaron Rodgers went down with a blown Achilles. However, Saleh explained the silver lining at the league meetings.
“All the young guys that were forced to play a year ago were really excited about the direction they’re going,” Saleh said to Wyche. “But at the same time, to bring in some veteran presence, to bring in some leadership, to bring in guys who know how to play the game — who have played the game at a very high level and who really have the capability of achieving and matching the standard which we’re trying to create.”
New York was able to construct a brand new starting offensive line and that’s before factoring in the 2024 NFL draft.
Saleh described new addition Morgan Moses as “an old school soul” who brings a blue-collar work ethic to the team.
“[Moses] just shows up to work, works his tail off, and a guy who’s going to pull people with him. Tyron Smith has played at a very high level for a very long time, and John Simpson at guard, I mean, he’s like the definition of strain. The way he works and kind of his story. He’s kept battling to prove he belongs in this league. Excited about the mental makeup of the room,” Saleh said to Wyche.
The theme of the conversation was about “attacking.” Whether that be Rodgers’ hunger heading into next season or the Jets’ mentality to “try to accomplish the things we were supposed to accomplish a year ago.”
Jets Attempting a New Strategy This Offseason
It seems like going under the radar was a message this regime tried to pound into their player’s heads to start this offseason.
Last year there was a lot of noise. The Jets traded for Aaron Rodgers. They were the featured team on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Gang Green was the offseason darling who was expected to take the league by storm.
Saleh told Wyche that they are embracing the silence.
Earlier this offseason Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said the team wanted to be “silent assassins.”
“We gotta be those underdogs, the guys that come out of nowhere, we ain’t going to be doing too much talking this year,” Gardner explained to ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.
That will be easier said than done. The Jets, for better or for worse, are always in the NFL news cycle. That will be especially true as long as Rodgers is the starting quarterback.
There is only so much going under the radar you can do with Rodgers. However, there is plenty of doubters out there who aren’t buying the Jets after last season’s failures.
“Here’s my issue with the New York Jets. Do they have the pieces to go all the way? … I’m not so sure. I’m not going to say definitively yes,” Stephen A. Smith explained on ESPN’s “First Take.”
Smith raised durability issues on the show with some of the Jets’ brightest stars like Rodgers and Tyron Smith. Although his biggest point of contention was with the Jets’ offensive play caller Nathaniel Hackett.
That’s a fair point considering the Jets are coming off of one of their worst offensive seasons in team history. A fair counterpoint to that is how much of that ineptitude will be mitigated by Rodgers being the quasi-OC on the field.
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