FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Joe Douglas stood outside at the New York Jets facility on Wednesday, in front of the team cafeteria. It was just a few feet away from where owner Woody Johnson held his first press conference in 2021, after four years as an ambassador to the United Kingdom during Donald Trump’s presidency.
This was not long after Robert Saleh was hired as head coach. Douglas, hired in the summer of 2019, was early in his tenure as general manager. There was hope. And then it evaporated.
Douglas took questions on Wednesday for his annual midseason press conference at that same spot — a fitting location just a day after Trump won the presidential election, making it possible Johnson departs for another four years. Douglas’s tone over the last year has gotten quieter, devoid of joy. Wednesday’s was a somber address to the media; it might have been his last one.
The Jets are 30-62 during Douglas’s time as general manager, and in the middle of the most tumultuous season of a tenure full of disappointment. They are 3-6, playoff hopes hanging on by a thread, and four weeks ago Johnson fired Saleh without consulting his general manager.
Douglas is in the final year of his six-year contract and the Jets have yet to sniff the postseason. They are projecting confidence after an impressive second half powered a victory over the Houston Texans last Thursday, snapping a five-game skid, but that might have been too little, too late. Barring an improbable run to end the season, this is likely Douglas’s last hurrah.
Regarding his future, Douglas said, “I come in here every day and just want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and get to its destination and whatever happens, happens.”
The writing was on the wall when Johnson took the reins away from his general manager, firing the head coach without consulting the GM — then pushing through deals for Davante Adams (trade) and Haason Reddick (restructured contract). The Saleh firing was especially jarring in the way that Johnson did it, two days after a game, in Week 5, ahead of a Monday nighter against the Bills in which the Jets could’ve jumped into first place in the AFC East. Johnson replaced Saleh with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in the interim, and the Jets lost that Bills game anyway, then two more before the win against Houston. Douglas explained the firing by referencing a different political figure: former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell, who served under George W. Bush.
“Again, I’m not going to get into any of the details or any of the conversations that happened before or after” the firing, Douglas said. “But Woody and I talk every day. At the end of the day, I think Colin Powell said it, in a different arena, but I serve at the pleasure of the owner. My single goal is to help this team get to the goal of a championship. It’s not the start anyone envisioned but we still have it all in front of us. It’s just doing the little things better, executing and stacking some wins.”
The tone inside the locker room was decidedly different. Players were smiling and conversations were loud and lively. Aaron Rodgers sounded like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and even jokingly bragged about coming straight from the gym and bench-pressing 225 pounds.
“I think there was a weight lifted off,” Rodgers said. “But you know, there’s a baseline level of kind of energy and enthusiasm that we kind of held ourselves to in training camp. And you know, we haven’t necessarily been there the entire time. So we got to find a way to to bring it every single day. You know that the key for young players to learn is that consistency starts with the minute you walk into the building, and everything you do needs to be intentional. And that that starts with the conversation you’re having, the time you get to work, the way you take notes. We’re starting to do some of the right things, but we’re a work in progress too.”
The Jets are feeling better about themselves after that Texans win — Garrett Wilson’s season-changing catch didn’t hurt — but it’s Week 10, they are 3-6 and still a “work in progress,” trying to find the right energy and approach, which isn’t encouraging for an organization that had Super Bowl aspirations before the season.
A few weeks ago, both Rodgers and Adams — only a few days after arriving via trade — bemoaned the Jets’ lack of energy, which was a concerning trend considering Johnson fired Saleh in order to give the team a boost and turn the season around. Douglas wouldn’t say whether he felt that was the right move.
“I know Woody spoke afterwards,” Douglas said. “I don’t have anything to add, any comment to add, all I can say is since that decision has been made all my energy, all of my focus, has been doing whatever I can to help (Ulbrich) and his staff and the locker room turn this thing around.”
Douglas pointed to that Texans win as evidence that the Jets still can turn the season around too, while acknowledging that a 3-6 record, in his sixth year, doesn’t reflect well on his job performance.
“We haven’t had a winning season,” Douglas said. “We’re sitting here at 3-6 so there’s a lot of frustration. Obviously it starts with me. I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could’ve done better. When the situation happens that happened four weeks ago (Saleh’s firing) you have a lot of self-reflective moments of what you could’ve done better to keep that from happening. We got an opportunity here with this last stretch of games to change that narrative.”
And to save the GM’s job.
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Extra points
• The Jets might start two tackles (Olu Fashanu, Max Mitchell) at guard against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Starting guards John Simpson (groin) and Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), as well as backup Jake Hanson (hamstring) all didn’t practice on Wednesday. Tackles Morgan Moses (knee) and Tyron Smith (rest) didn’t either, but both tackles are expected to play. Other non-participants: cornerback Michael Carter II (back), defensive tackle Solomon Thomas (knee) and linebacker C.J. Mosley (neck), who will likely miss a couple games.
• Douglas traded wide receiver Mike Williams to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a fifth-round pick on Tuesday, marking the end of a short and disappointing tenure for a player who arrived with so much hype. It was always a risk signing a player coming off ACL surgery, which Douglas alluded to as a reason why it didn’t work out for Williams in New York. “Obviously, not being part of OTAs, not being a part of the majority of training camp, just could never really get that synced up,” Douglas said. “But this is a great opportunity for him to have a fresh start and also it’s a move we wouldn’t have made had we not felt good about the guys we have in the room. Us acquiring a player like Davante gives us the flexibility that if a team wants to be aggressive to acquire a player like Mike, we can do that and we feel good about having two elite receivers … We are happy with the depth we have in the room.”
• As for that depth at receiver, Rodgers was asked about rookie Malachi Corley taking on a bigger role and quickly changed the conversation to talking about how he’d like to see 6-foot-4 wide receiver Irv Charles — primarily a special teamer — get more reps on offense with Williams gone. “He’s a super unselfish guy, you know, an absolute menace on special teams,” Rodgers said, “but he had a nice training camp at receiver.”
• Douglas also addressed the decline of kicker Greg Zuerlein, who was placed on injured reserve last week, presumably never to be heard from again. Douglas, though, cracked the door open for a potential return. “I mean, look, Z was coming off a career year. We all still believe in Z. Obviously, he struggled with some of the mechanics and had a little (knee) tweak. I think this is a good opportunity for him to hit the reset button. No one is giving up on Zuerlein coming back here and helping us win games and possibly win a championship. This is a great opportunity for him to get right. He is loved and respected by everyone in this building.”
(Top photo: Dennis Waszak Jr. / AP)
