Jets new head coach gets off to a really bad start with Aaron Rodgers

The New York Jets have dominated NFL headlines this week with a couple of drastic changes. First, the Jets fired Robert Saleh after falling to the Minnesota in the first of three London Games this past week. 

And in the latest installment of the Jets football organization saga, recently-named interim coach Jeff Ulbrich announced passing game coordinator Todd Downing will take over play-calling. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett had been calling the plays the first five weeks. 

On one hand, this makes sense. The Jets offense isn’t particularly thriving right now. Against the Vikings in Week 5, their receivers dropped passes and Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions. This is not how the Rodgers era in New York was supposed to go. 

Since the 2024 season began, the Jets are in the bottom half of the NFL in offense. Per Pro Football Reference, the Jets rank No. 25 in points per game, 27th in total yards and 19th in passing yards. They rank dead last in rushing yards. 

This isn’t an Aaron Rodgers problem and honestly wasn’t a Saleh problem either, who was a defensive minded coach to begin with. So promoting a new coach was always going to bring some changes. Maybe Saleh trusted Hackett and Rodgers’ relationship enough to not make the move himself. 

Either way, the decision is made and only if the Jets offense improves can we allude to that solving part of the issue. But whether it works out or not, making the move is also losing Ulbrich brownie points with the veteran quarterback. 

Jeff Ulbrich takes bold stance in ripping play-calling duties from Nathaniel Hackett

Ulbrich made a bold move announcing Downing would be taking over the offensive play-calling. Hackett and Rodgers go back to their days together with Green Bay’s offense. Certainly in an attempt to lure Rodgers from Green Bay, the Jets hired Hackett, who failed miserably as the head coach in Denver. 

It may not have been the smartest hire, especially when the Broncos’ offense was terrible the season Hackett was fired, too. But relationships are just as important as results in the NFL and Saleh put all his faith in that to produce results and it didn’t. 

Rodgers said he’d be “on board” with any changes Ulbrich makes. That may be true now, but if the offense doesn’t turn things around, he may not take too kindly of all the abrupt changes as the midway point approaches. 

Maybe Ulbrich saw all along this was a move that needed to be made, he just needed to be in a position of power to do it. The Jets don’t have a lot of time to get back on track and with Rodgers playing in his age-40 season, they don’t have a lot of time period. 

Changes certainly needed to be made. Jets owner Woody Johnson felt that meant a midseason change at the head coaching position. For Ulbrich that means changing up the offensive play-caller. Hopefully for the Jets sake, that ultimately means more wins.