Joe Douglas is “pretty fun to watch” on draft day, says New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh
Rich Eisen is one of NFL media’s most prominent New York Jets fans. His calls for Sauce Gardner before the NFL Draft were the stuff of memes. So when Eisen interviewed Robert Saleh on The Rich Eisen Show yesterday, there was no doubt of where his questions were coming from.
Eisen drew some nice lines from Saleh about a few of the more salient topics surrounding the Jets. He asked the coach about his first impressions of Sauce prior to the draft. Saleh responded, “I was explaining it to my wife last night. We were watching Flight 2022… He’s got this humility to him that comes with a tremendous amount of confidence that allows him to talk a lot of crap.”
It’s obvious that Sauce has a swagger to him, but the way Saleh put it makes it obvious why the Jets were so eager to get him. And eager they were; as seen on the documentary Flight 2022, when Joe Douglas was informed that the Texans were going to draft Derek Stingley, he pumped his fist and exclaimed in jubilation.
One thing that jumped out from the interview was Saleh’s obvious admiration for Douglas. He spoke about Douglas’s persistence on draft day to make sure he acquired his targets.
“Joe, on draft day, he’s pretty fun to watch,” Saleh said. “He’s calm, he’s collected, but he is relentless in pursuit to try to make sure he’s getting all the information he needs to make the best selection possible.”
It’s the first time in a while that the Jets have a GM who makes moves that are smart, even on paper.
Eisen asked Saleh about the Jets’ pass rush. Another good line from the coach: “We’ve got, on paper, what could be a pretty cool group. But paper never won a championship.”
Eisen laughed and transitioned to a question about the Jets’ schedule on paper, asking if Saleh had hoped for an easier opening. Saleh explained that “there’s really never an easy opener in the NFL.” He pointed to the Jets’ victory over the Titans and near-victory over the Bucs last season as proof that any team can be a threat on any given Sunday.
Any interview with the Jets coach is incomplete without at least one question about Mekhi Becton. Although Saleh didn’t really say anything new, he reiterated that Becton does not have any restrictions on his knee. He talked again about Becton’s special talent that jumped out in Year 1, labeling his athleticism, size, and talent as “freakish”.
Although a coach is not going to say anything radically new in an interview, sometimes the small nuggets or the phrasing provide new insight into a player. Saleh’s interview with Rich Eisen was certainly entertaining and produced a few nice lines.
