In the aftermath of Robert Saleh being fired, three of the most prominent New York Jets players addressed the media in person.
Speaking to reporters, cornerback Sauce Gardner said that his agent informed him of Saleh’s firing.
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“My agent had texted me. He was like, what do you think about the news? Because I deleted social media, I deleted Twitter from my phone. It just was so negative. I just typed in ‘Jets’ on Google, and that’s all I could see…But I was shocked.”
Gardner also said that he was very close to Saleh and that the former head coach “changed his life.” He added that the team is still “doing it” for Saleh.
“Where I come from, all the stuff that I’ve been through growing up in Detroit, and for him to be able to like take a chance on me. That’s why, for his birthday, I text him, and every year, I always say, like, I appreciate you for taking a chance on me, you know what I’m saying? And he really changed my life, really changed my family’s life. That was always the goal for me in life, and he made that happen.
“The things that happened, like the penalties, the offense not doing well, the defense not doing well, and the special teams not doing well, from the outside looking in, people can say it’s his fault, but realistically, we are grown men who get paid millions of dollars. We should be able to be held accountable. We should be able to correct ourselves and our mistakes.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson echoed the sentiment, saying that Saleh’s firing “hurts.”
“Obviously, he believed in me. He was part of the staff that brought me in here, and he was probably a huge part of that. And, you know, to have a coach that valued my opinion and would sit down and talk to me like that. The conversations we had, getting to know his family, and just knowing what it means to him, you know, it hurts.
“I’m confident his best days are ahead of him in this league, and sometimes things happen in this league.”
Wilson also spoke about the team’s newfound urgency to win games in the 2024 season.
“I mean, urgency’s been there. I think it’s just about going out and then doing it. But it’s definitely a reality check that, you know, we all, in their eyes, are replaceable. Everybody is replaceable. We have to approach every day, every game, every practice as such. You have to go out and prove your worth every day,” said Wilson.
“I think you can see it like that for sure. But I truly think we will go out and play good football because that’s what we are in this locker room. And that’s what we do.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers also spoke about the nature of accountability surrounding the Jets in the aftermath of the changes.
“We need to be accountable to each other. When something like this happens, it’s a reset for everybody. When you make a change on the offense, it’s a mirror that’s held up for all of us who played, and we all feel terrible about the opportunity that we had that we squandered that led to Robert getting fired and Hack (Nathaniel Hackett) getting demoted. I play better, and this doesn’t happen. We play better on offense, and this doesn’t happen. It puts a spotlight on us, and now it’s on us to do this. We need to be accountable to each other and raise the level of our play to the standard that we set during training camp.”
How the Jets will respond to Saleh’s firing in a game-like setting remains to be seen. The team must come out firing in Monday night’s game against the Bills with first place in the AFC East on the line.
