Robert Saleh is out as the head coach of the New York Jets after a grim 23-17 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings in London . The loss dropped New York to 2-3 on the season and Saleh's overall record with the team to 20-36.
The decision was ultimately made by team owner Woody Johnson. The 77-year-old was serving as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2021 and was not responsible for hiring Salah - that decision was made by his brother Christopher, then the acting owner.
Johnson and the Jets named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as the interim head coach. "He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team," Johnson said in a statement.
Saleh grew up in Dearborn, Michigan to Lebanese immigrants. When the Jets gave him the job in 2021, he became the first known Arab-American head coach in NFL history. Previously Saleh served as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator from 2017-2020.
Ahead of the game against the Vikings, Saleh was asked if he was feeling any pressure following the team's slow start. He attempted to laugh off the question, seemingly fairly relaxed in a response which has aged badly after being fired just days later.
"“Pressure? In New York?” Saleh said with a chuckle . “You can be an expansion team and still have the same amount of pressure. It doesn’t matter, you got to win, it’s New York.
“The expectation is to win. When you win, you are going to the Super Bowl. When you lose, fire everybody. That is the world we live in, that is the world we embrace. We attack each week as a new week, which every week comes with the extremist amount of pressure, but we are made for it, we are built for it.”
Part of the "pressure" in Saleh's job came from managing the always-cantankerous Aaron Rodgers. However, Saleh's starting quarterback seemed to assure the media that all was well between the pair.
"I think there's some driving force trying to put a wedge [from] outside the facility between Robert and I," Rodgers said ahead of the Vikings game. " "We're really good friends," Rodgers said. "We enjoy each other. We spend time almost every day in his office talking.... we've got a great relationship."
Meanwhile, the 40-year-old Rodgers laid another egg against the Vikings on Sunday. He completed just 29-of-54 passes for 244 yards to go along with two touchdowns and three interceptions -- one was a costly pick-six to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel in the second quarter.
READ MORE: New York Jets owner Woody Johnson's damning reason for firing Robert Saleh
READ MORE: Davante Adams fuels NFL trade speculation after abruptly canceling Tuesday plans
Saleh was asked about his quarterback's performance post-game. "The biggest thing that we talked about going into this game was playing clean ball," he said. "Minnesota had been feasting on pick-sixes and putting their offense in positions to get easy layups, unfortunately, that pick-six was the big difference in the game."
Despite the loss, Rodgers backed. his beleaguered coach once again. “The most important positive to take with us is if we stick together...We think this is a team that’s going to make a run. Whether that run starts next week, the following week, whenever it might be, I’m confident in our guys I’m confident in leadership that we’ll get this figured out."
Interim coach Ulbrich will face a steep test in his first game in charge: the 2-3 Jets will face the 3-2 Buffalo Bills for a chance to claim first place in the AFC East.
Local News
Comments / 0