Mike LaFleur pointed the finger at himself, accepting blame for the Jets’ impotent offense through three games.
The team’s new offensive coordinator used the “E” word — execution — as the reason for the inability to get in the end zone the last two weeks, but he said he believes that’s a product of ineffective coaching, rather than of the players not carrying out plans properly.
“We didn’t execute very well, which was disappointing because I look at that as coaching,” said LaFleur, three games into his first job as an NFL offensive coordinator. “When guys aren’t executing, you got to figure out what is going wrong. What are the players not hearing that is not allowing the execution? I challenged the coaches, I challenged myself, ‘How can we make it easier? How can you say it in a way that these guys can understand it better?’ Because you can’t win in this league until you execute, it is such a precision league and we’re not doing that right now. So we got to get that fixed.”
LaFleur, when asked, didn’t directly address whether the players are being put in the proper position to succeed, but he didn’t try to sidestep accountability, either. He faulted himself for calling just 13 rushing plays last Sunday’ in an ugly 26-0 loss to the Broncos, though he did point out the Jets’ inability to get first downs limited their plays and made it difficult to develop a rhythm. He admitted the game got away from him.
“That’s on me,” LaFleur said. “I got to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Almost everything has gone wrong offensively for the Jets so far this season. They are averaging a feeble 6.6 points per game through three weeks and rookie quarterback Zach Wilson has already been intercepted seven times. They have managed six points combined the last two weeks and are the only team in the NFL without a first-half touchdown. They are in the bottom four in total yards, passing yards, rushing yards and first downs.
“It starts with me and the rest of the coaches,” LaFleur said. “We’re not getting it done.”
So far, the Jets’ decision to go with newbies in key positions across the board on offense — rookie quarterback, rookie offensive coordinator, rookie quarterbacks coach (Rob Calabrese) — has backfired. LaFleur, the 49ers’ passing game coordinator from 2017-20, has so far been unable to generate any productivity from this offense.
Part of that can be attributed to Wilson’s struggles. Some of it can be linked to the Jets facing three strong defenses (Panthers, Patriots, Broncos) and the absence so far of their leading receiver from the last two years (Jamison Crowder).
On Thursday, LaFleur wasn’t looking for excuses. He admitted the obvious: It has to get better. But the 34-year-old coordinator also said it isn’t getting to him. The only way to get out of this is by working.
“You just keep being yourself every single day,” LaFleur said. “When you get to the sideline, you challenge what you need to challenge, you coach what you need to coach, you show the urgency that you needed to show to obviously get across that goal line and get the points and put ourselves in a position to win football games. But again, like I told the guys on Monday, absolutely as long as I’m here, there’s going to be zero panic.”
So far, there has been very little offensive production, too.