Sure sounds like Jeff Ulbrich doesn't think Aaron Rodgers was part of Jets' problems

The New York Jets are the league’s most downtrodden franchise. Following the rise of the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders, few franchises can match the level of misery at the Meadowlands.

The Jets were expected to make a deep playoff run after acquiring future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers. Instead, the Jets missed the postseason for the 14th consecutive season, extending the longest active drought among all four major North American sports leagues. 

Many of New York’s failures this season were pinned on Rodgers, who entered the 2024 season as the oldest active quarterback in the league.  While the 41-year-old struggled in his first full season with the team, it’s hard to imagine any quarterback would have succeeded in such a toxic environment.

Jeff Ulbrich blames coaching for Jets’ failures in 2024

During a press conference on Monday, Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich discussed some of the issues the Jets faced during his time as interim head coach last season.

Rather than blaming Rodgers for the team’s struggles, Ulbrich pointed the blame at the coaching staff. Ulbrich began the season as the Jets defensive coordinator, but he was elevated to interim head coach after former Jets head coach Robert Saleh was fired.

“There are certain things that need to be told to a head coach that are occurring,” Ulbrich said. “A lot of times, what I found in that interim role was … I felt the shift in the way people talked to me and treated me and what they said to me. The lack of truth sometimes was really detrimental.”

Ulbrich opted to keep his defensive play-calling duties instead of delegating his responsibilities, which resulted in having too many things being on his plate. New York held a 2-3 record when Saleh was fired. Under Ulbrich, the Jets experienced a decline under Ulbrich, who notched just three wins over the final 12 games of the season.

“There is an element of a failure for myself in that way because I didn’t delegate,” Ulbrich said. “I didn’t. I just took it all on myself. In my mind’s eye, I was trying to create continuity and I didn’t want to fracture the staff. … I thought the best thing for me to do at that point in time was just try to keep everybody in the same role that they had, just so we could keep things rolling. And it wasn’t the right thing to do. It wasn’t, as I look back. I should have delegated. I should have given the defensive coordinator responsibilities to someone else.”

A lack of adequate coaching shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, this is the same team whose owner made roster decisions based on player ratings from the “Madden NFL” video game.