Aaron Rodgers reportedly arrived at the Jets’ facility on Tuesday with no idea his former head coach Robert Saleh was no longer employed by the team.
Now, the reaction from the four-time NFL MVP, with Saleh ousted after being one of the main cogs moving mountains to keep him happy, has been revealed.
Rodgers was ‘blindsided’ by the news of Saleh’s firing and had no indication the move was coming, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Jets owner Woody Johnson also made the move on his own and did not reach out to Rodgers before firing Saleh, or tell him before he arrived at the team’s headquarters about the move.
Rodgers did have a meeting with Johnson after hearing the news of Saleh getting the pink slip.
Rodgers reportedly showed up at the Jets facility on Tuesday with no idea Saleh had been fired
The sports world was shocked by Saleh’s firing on Tuesday five games into the Jets’ season, with Rodgers’ response to losing his head coach as valuable an opinion as any within the organization.
Rodgers was shocked enough by the news to delay his weekly spot on the Pat McAfee show a day and appear on Wednesday instead of his signature Tuesday spot.
The Jets are 2-3 this season, with sky-high expectations and a limited window with their 40-year-old quarterback.
Johnson seemingly made the move with Rodgers in mind despite not consulting with him about it.
‘This morning, l informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets,’ Jets owner Woody Johnson confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. ‘I thanked him for his hard work these past three-and-a-half years and wished him and his family well moving forward.
‘This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.’
Jets’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has been named the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Rodgers has stated on multiple occasions that he likes Saleh, with any power play to get his coach fired claptrap.
Saleh reportedly was considering firing offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the embattled former Broncos head coach, before getting canned himself.
Johnson’s reasoning for firing Saleh, his first in-season firing in 25 years of ownership, is to give his team the best chance to win this season.
Saleh’s ouster comes two days after the Jets lost to the undefeated Vikings in London, where he controversially wore a Lebanon flag on his shirt.
His decision to wear the flag amid the Israel-Hezbollah war came under fire as the Nova Music Festival’s one-year anniversary was Monday, where terrorist group Hamas killed more than 1,200 people in Israel.
Saleh, who became the NFL’s first ever Muslim-American head coach when he joined the Jets in 2021, departs with a dismal 20-36 record after failing to make the playoffs in each of his three full seasons.
Rodgers has stayed healthy this season, but his offense is mainly to blame for the team’s 2024 woes.
After Rodgers tore his Achilles four offensive snaps into his 2023 season, Rodgers stayed in the headlines with his weekly appearances on McAfee’s show.
Rodgers appearances were deemed as controversial, as he talked about conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus vaccine, and called Travis Kelce ‘Mr. Pfizer.’
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