Robert Saleh saw a tweet in September that stuck with him. It pointed out that legendary basketball coach John Wooden didn’t win his first national title until his 16th season at UCLA, that Starbucks’ massive growth took more than a decade, and ended with this line: Be persistent. Success takes time.
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In Week 3, the Jets lost to the Bengals on a bad day when they turned the ball over four times. They were 1-2 with Joe Flacco starting at quarterback in place of the injured Zach Wilson, and fans were readying their pitchforks. Saleh thought of that tweet again. He texted it to some people he thought needed to see it. “We’ll be fine,” Saleh would say to anyone willing to listen. “We have the pieces.”
Once Wilson returned in Week 4, the Jets won five of their next six games, powered by an elite defense, an effective ground game and a trio of rookies — cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall — quickly emerging as stars. But while this was going on, Saleh was working behind the scenes to put out fires and ease tensions in a locker room growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of production from Wilson, the 23-year-old quarterback who was the No. 2 pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Jets entered their bye week 6-3, with Saleh building internal support for his ability to weather the winds of controversy that enveloped many Jets coaches before him. He had players believing they could overcome anything — trade requests, bad quarterback play and injuries to key players. New York went into its bye week with a 60 percent chance of making the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight, but Saleh’s message remained consistent: “We still have a long, long way to go.”
Zach Wilson’s dreadful performance in a 10-3 loss to the Patriots after the bye week — followed by postgame comments skirting responsibility for his poor play — led to his benching. Some in the locker room, and on the coaching staff, rejoiced at starting Mike White, a 27-year-old journeyman with three previous career starts. When Wilson replaced an injured White weeks later, multiple teammates openly grumbled about his return during practice and in meetings.
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Saleh had been putting out fires all season, but he couldn’t ignite a broken offense. The Jets finished 7-10, losing seven of their final eight games and six in a row to end the season.
Compromised by injuries to key players, the offense couldn’t overcome a quarterback (Wilson) who lost his confidence and a coordinator (Mike LaFleur) who felt constrained by the quarterback’s limitations. Wide receivers openly expressed frustration with the direction of the offense. Defensive players collectively shrugged, wondering how much more they could’ve done.
In November, LaFleur was pegged as a future head coach. In January, he was let go in a mutual parting of ways.
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Saleh has said the “quarterback is the head of the snake,” and that “you want the head of the snake to be stable.” The Jets will spend the offseason looking for a new quarterback since Wilson, most have accepted, is not the solution.
The Athletic spoke with a dozen players, coaches, staff and others in and around the Jets organization to figure out what went wrong. Some were granted anonymity to speak freely about the inner workings of the team without reprisal. Those conversations painted the picture of a head coach doing his best to keep things together as his players grew increasingly irritated with a young quarterback battling injuries, self-doubt and a frustrated offensive coordinator.
When the Jets hired Saleh to be head coach in January 2021, LaFleur was an easy choice for offensive coordinator.
Saleh and LaFleur had been fellow assistants on the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan — Saleh the defensive coordinator, LaFleur the passing game coordinator — and had known each other for years. Saleh worked and lived with Mike’s brother Matt at Central Michigan, and would annoy a teenaged Mike by hogging the TV when he visited the LaFleur family home in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
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LaFleur’s hiring was praised by many around the league. “It’s the West Coast system,” he said in his introductory news conference. “We’re trying to run the outside zone and do the play-action stuff off of it, but we fit it to our players.” But some players found the system to be needlessly complicated.
“We’ll have one route but it has a bunch of different names depending on the concept,” said a former Jets receiver who spent time with the team in training camp this year. “I’ve been on multiple teams, this is the first time I’ve experienced that.”
Calvin Jackson, an undrafted rookie wide receiver who spent the offseason and training camp with the Jets, said LaFleur spoke with him one-on-one after Jackson had a tough time learning concepts in OTAs. “He’s one of those soft-spoken guys that won’t say much,” Jackson said. “But if you need help, you can always go to him and ask for it.” By training camp, Jackson said he had the concepts figured out.
As a rookie, Zach Wilson struggled with the complexity of the scheme and went 3-10 as the starter. Over the offseason, LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese studied what worked for Wilson in 2021 and what didn’t. There was some level of frustration. LaFleur would tell people how much more effective the offense looked with quarterbacks Flacco, Josh Johnson and especially White. The stats backed it up.
But Wilson was the Jets’ future, so LaFleur adjusted the scheme, reduced the volume of plays and tried to make things more digestible. Wilson seemed to have a better handle on the offense in OTAs and went into the rest of the offseason committed to building chemistry with his wide receivers.
He spent thousands of dollars flying to Florida, Arizona and Tennessee to work out with teammates. Wilson invited most of the team’s skill position players and quarterbacks to Idaho for a getaway right before training camp, a fun weekend relaxing in the company of celebrities like Wayne Gretzky and Justin Bieber. Some of Wilson’s teammates appreciated the effort he was putting in.
“I never hung out with him outside of the building or anything, but from my experience he was a cool, down-to-earth dude,” said the wide receiver who was with the Jets in training camp. Jackson said when he was first signed to the Jets, Wilson told him: “I’m happy you’re here.” And when Jackson was cut, Wilson called “to make sure I was in the right headspace.”
In New York’s first preseason game, Wilson started things off by sailing a pass over Garrett Wilson’s head and throwing a bad interception. On his second drive, his right knee buckled on a scramble, a non-contact injury. He had suffered a torn meniscus and bone bruise and was forced to the sidelines for six weeks while recovering from a procedure to repair the meniscus. Wilson said afterward he did not anticipate any long-term effects from the knee injury, or from the PCL sprain he suffered as a rookie to the same knee that forced him to miss four games.
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Wilson made his 2022 regular-season debut in Week 4 against the Steelers and struggled for three quarters, though he did catch a second-quarter touchdown on a trick play. In the fourth quarter, the Jets trailing by 10, Wilson pulled his teammates aside and told them, in so many words, to “man up.” He completed 10 of 12 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown that quarter while playing through an ankle injury, and the Jets won 24-20.
“The young man doesn’t flinch,” Saleh said after the game.
It never got better.
LaFleur’s directive to Zach Wilson when he returned to game action wasn’t complicated: If the first read and second reads aren’t there, run.
The strategy worked against the Steelers and again in Week 5 against the Dolphins, a 40-17 win. In Week 6, the Jets won in Green Bay, even though Wilson completed only 10 of 18 passes for 110 yards while playing through a separation of the AC joint in his left shoulder.
The Jets’ simplistic approach to the passing game wasn’t sitting well with some wide receivers, who weren’t seeing the ball as much as they had with Flacco starting the first three games. Garrett Wilson had one catch against the Packers. Elijah Moore wasn’t targeted at all while running 14 routes. Moore reportedly first expressed his displeasure to teammates after the Packers game, questioning his future with the Jets. That night, he also responded to a tweet about his lack of targets by saying: “If I say what I really wanna say … I’ll be the selfish guy … just know I don’t understand either.”
His frustration spilled into practice that week. That Thursday, Moore surprised teammates and coaches by blowing up on LaFleur, telling him to “go f— yourself” and “you suck,” according to multiple people who witnessed the interaction. LaFleur and Saleh ultimately decided to send Moore home to cool off. That night, he requested a trade.
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He was the second highly drafted wide receiver to do so — Denzel Mims, a second-round pick in 2020, wanted out in August, once it became clear he was buried on the depth chart. Both times, the Jets made it clear they didn’t intend to trade either. Publicly and privately, Saleh supported both Moore and Mims, and his compassion resonated with other Jets players. Moore and LaFleur hugged it out. Mims and Moore didn’t cause any issues the rest of the season.
The Jets won their Week 7 game against the Broncos, though it came at a great cost. Hall, averaging 5.8 yards per carry during his rookie season, suffered a torn ACL. Star offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker, selected 12 picks after Wilson in the 2021 first round, suffered torn triceps. Both were lost for the season.
The next week, Wilson threw three interceptions in a 22-17 loss to the Patriots, and his relationship with LaFleur started to sour. NFL legend Steve Young, who Wilson said he called in November for advice, shed some light on their relationship in a radio interview earlier this month.
“Zach doesn’t need tough love. He doesn’t need somebody to see how tough he is. He needs a big brother — a young, knowledgeable innovator, someone who he can trust and says to him, ‘You know what, despite everything that’s happened, Zach, I believe in you. You can get this done.’ Zach needs that,” Young said. “Mike kind of kept him at arm’s length and gave him the tough-love aspect, and I don’t think that’s really useful for Zach.”
Zach Wilson sat in the back of the visitor’s press conference room at Gillette Stadium as Saleh spoke, fuming at one reporter’s line of questioning. Wilson had just had a brutal performance, 77 passing yards in a 10-3 Week 11 loss at New England. The offense mustered only 2 yards in the second half.
Is the quarterback holding the offense back?
If Zach continues to struggle, will you bench him?
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Then, Wilson spoke. He called his performance “frustrating,” admitting that some throws “got away” from him. He pointed out that it was “windy as hell,” which made things challenging. At the end of the news conference, Wilson was asked if he felt like he let the defense down on a day when it allowed the Patriots’ offense to score only three points.
His response: “No, no.”
The moment went viral, with Wilson mocked incessantly from all corners of the internet for his lack of accountability. The quote quickly made its way around the locker room, and some teammates — especially defensive players — were unhappy. Wilson didn’t realize the magnitude of his words until his dad texted him on his way out to the team bus: What the heck did you just do?
Wilson tried explaining that his response was directed at the reporter, not the question. But the damage was done. He’d planned to apologize at his next news conference after practice on Wednesday, but tight end C.J. Uzomah and others texted him Tuesday night suggesting he speak to his teammates before that.
���Hey man, just letting you know: You rubbed the team the wrong way,” Uzomah said he told Wilson on “The Chris Rose Football Show with C.J. Uzomah.” “I’d say something if I were you.”
That Wednesday morning, Saleh informed the team that Wilson was being benched for White. Wilson still apologized to coaches, to team captains and in front of the entire team. It was described as a heartfelt apology, but many of Wilson’s teammates, and LaFleur, were excited about opening up the offense with a different quarterback.
Saleh labeled it a “reset” for Wilson, bumping him down to the third string so he could get back to basics and fix the mechanical issues that were plaguing him, namely his footwork. Saleh insisted the Jets weren’t giving up on Wilson and said later in the season that they’d continue working with him through “hell or high water.”
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The Jets beat the Bears 31-10 in White’s first start, and nearly beat the Vikings in Minnesota the following week. After the game, a loss, teammates raved about White in a way they never had about Wilson. “I know I’d go to war for that boy,” said Garrett Wilson. “He’s got something special about him.”
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Meanwhile, Zach Wilson sought to find the “fun” in football again. He called some former NFL quarterbacks who hit rough patches early in their careers for advice: Kurt Warner, Drew Brees and Young. Warner told The Athletic that he “enjoyed” talking to Wilson and getting to know him, though he wanted to keep their conversation private. He did say that Wilson’s willingness to make those calls is a positive sign.
“I think there’s a lot of things to learn when you’re open to believing you still have something to learn, and areas you can grow,” Warner said. “I respect him a lot for reaching out and listening … (but) it’s one thing to reach out and listen, and it’s another thing to be willing to do what it takes to change.”
The Jets had planned to keep Wilson benched through the end of the season, but White suffered fractured ribs against the Bills in Week 14. Saleh named Wilson the starter for Week 15. In practice that week, Wilson threw a series of incompletions during team drills that frustrated Jets receivers, and the struggles carried into games.
Wilson completed 18 of 35 passes in a loss to the Lions. In Week 16, he was booed off the field by Jets fans and benched for practice squad quarterback Chris Streveler in the second half of a loss to the Jaguars. New York went back to White in Week 17 against Seattle, playoff hopes still alive, even though White was still battling the rib injury.
The Jets lost 23-6, their playoff hopes over.
Jets owner Woody Johnson pointed at the large portrait of Winston Churchill in his office at Florham Park and smiled.
“I brought it over from London,” Johnson said last week. Churchill “was behind every ambassador since 1944.”
Johnson returned to the Jets in 2021 after serving four years as the ambassador to the United Kingdom as a member of former President Donald Trump’s administration. Johnson returned to a different organization than the one he left, with a general manager (Joe Douglas) and head coach (Saleh) both hired by Christopher Johnson, Woody’s brother, who believed in their vision.
By all accounts, Woody Johnson does too, though he was frustrated with the way the Jets collapsed at the end of the season. After the loss in Seattle, Johnson had meetings with Saleh and Douglas to discuss the Jets’ plan of attack in the offseason, among other things.
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Multiple people in the organization pushed back on the narrative that Johnson forced Saleh to fire LaFleur, though Saleh likely did feel pressure from above to make changes. For weeks, Saleh defended LaFleur, insisting — publicly and privately — that the problems were not one person’s fault.
It would’ve been hard for anyone to succeed with below-average quarterback play, the loss of two “superstars” — Saleh’s words — in Hall and Vera-Tucker and an offensive line in shambles. All told, the Jets had six starting offensive tackles spend time on injured reserve. Left tackle Duane Brown played 12 games with a bum shoulder. Right tackle George Fant played eight on a bad knee. They started 11 different players and nine different combinations on the line.
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But the Jets didn’t score a touchdown in their final three games and went 1 of 6 in the red zone in a five-point loss to the Vikings in Week 13. They finished ranked 25th in total offense and 29th in scoring. After the season, Garrett Wilson said that in the final games, other teams “had an idea of what we were trying to do,” and that it “got real hard for us on offense.”
On Jan. 11, Saleh and LaFleur agreed to part ways. Saleh canceled scheduled coaches meetings that day. “I think it was hard on Robert,” one Jets staff member said. “He protects everyone. It’s a little close to the chest for him.” Offensive line coach John Benton and wide receivers coach Miles Austin were also fired.
Now the Jets move forward, as Saleh seeks someone to revamp an offense with major issues at quarterback and on the offensive line — and with no guarantee this staff will still be around in 2024. They are expected to pursue veteran quarterbacks this offseason, and Johnson said he is “absolutely” willing to spend to upgrade the position. The Jets retain one of the NFL’s best defenses and an impressive core of young talent, including defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, Garrett Wilson, Vera-Tucker, Gardner, Hall and cornerback D.J. Reed.
The pressure is on Saleh, and Douglas, to fix the offense. That starts at quarterback. Even if the Jets haven’t given up on Wilson, he’s unlikely to be their starter in 2023. Few NFL head coaches or general managers survive a misevaluation like that for a No. 2 pick.
The Jets need to find some stability at quarterback, their “head of the snake.”
Right now, they are a snake with no head.
Additional reporting by The Athletic’s Jeff Howe.
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Photos: Steph Chambers, Rich Schultz, Cliff Hawkins / Getty Images)
