According to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was escorted from the team’s facility by security after being informed of his dismissal on Tuesday. The surprising move follows the Jets’ disappointing 2-3 start to the season, which culminated in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday.
“Per multiple sources, Jets coach Robert Saleh was escorted out of the building by the team’s director of security, after Saleh got the news,” Florio reported. While this kind of situation is rare in the NFL, Florio pointed out that it’s not completely unprecedented. A similar incident occurred in 2009 when the Cleveland Browns had their then-general manager, George Kokinis, escorted from the team’s facility after his firing.
Robert Saleh Is Gone
The Jets announced earlier in the day that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich would take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Despite being a respected figure within the locker room, Saleh’s exit has sparked plenty of buzz in the NFL world, particularly regarding the manner in which he was removed from the team’s facility. The move underscores the Jets’ urgency to turn their season around as they attempt to stay in the playoff hunt in a competitive AFC.
The New York Jets have made a stunning move following their 2-3 start to the season, announcing that head coach Robert Saleh has been relieved of his duties. The decision comes after the Jets’ 31-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday, and the announcement was made public in a statement by team owner Woody Johnson on Monday morning.
Saleh, who is originally from Dearborn, Michigan, had been with the Jets for three-and-a-half seasons, and while there were high hopes for the team entering the 2024 season, their underwhelming start prompted the franchise to move in a different direction. In the official statement, Johnson expressed gratitude to Saleh for his hard work over the past few years but made it clear that the team was not meeting expectations: “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.”
In the interim, Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets’ defensive coordinator, will take over as head coach for the remainder of the season. Ulbrich is known as a respected figure in the locker room, and Johnson expressed confidence in his ability to guide the team moving forward. “I believe he along with the coaches on this staff can get the most out of our talented team and attain the goals we established this offseason,” Johnson said.
As the Jets prepare to regroup under Ulbrich’s leadership, fans and analysts alike will be watching closely to see how the team responds to the dramatic coaching change.
The Crimson Diamond is AVAILABLE NOW!! (Launch trailer)
Play it on: Steam Current goal: Solve an old-fashioned mystery
A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I was captivated by Unavowed, a point-and-click adventure from the folks at Wadjet Eye. Well, I’ve finished that one (it was great) just in time for a brand-new entry in the genre to come along. And while Wadjet Eye’s output is most reminiscent of ‘90s adventure games that offered full voice acting and elegant drag-and-drop interfaces, this new game, The Crimson Diamondfrom designer Julia Minamata, is influenced by an earlier era of adventures, ones that ran in EGA and had you typing in what you wanted your character to do. I can’t wait to explore its mysteries.
The Crimson Diamond is perhaps most reminiscent of Sierra adventures, especially the Clara Bow games which saw their plucky heroine tossed into murder mysteries during the roaring ‘20s. Itcasts you as Nancy Maple, a young woman investigating the discovery of an unusually large and valuable diamond in a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It’s clear from the trailer that her investigations will find her encountering people with motives of their own, some of them sinister, and land her in no small amount of peril. Sign me up!
People often talk about the evolution of adventure games from text parsers to purely graphical interfaces as a net good, as if text parsers were just a crutch, a relic from the genre’s early days that we no longer needed, but I’ve always thought of them as two fundamentally different approaches, each with their own strengths. I think there are ways in which the presence of a text parser can encourage creative thinking that a purely graphics-based interface doesn’t always allow for, and in addition to digging into the plot of The Crimson Diamond, I’m eager to see how it uses this design element that so rarely gets employed in modern games. All in all, it sounds like a perfect fit for a cozy weekend. —Carolyn Petit
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Austin Williams, Carolyn Petit, Moises Taveras, Kenneth Shepard, and Ethan Gach
The Jets‘ offensive line has been like a game of musical chairs in the past two seasons. Gang Green hopes that their line will soon be stabilized with the news of a key veteran’s possible return.
When a player’s practice window is opened, the team has 21 days to either activate that player to the 53-man roster or shut them down for the remainder of the season.
“Just have to see how it feels in practice,” Brown said Wednesday. “Everything I’ve been doing to this point, sprinting, change of direction, stuff like that. Trying to simulate the game action, but I won’t know exactly how it feels until I’m pushing, playing against people who are 300-plus pounds, real pass protection, really putting stress on it.
“Once I get a couple of days of that, I will have a better idea.”
The 38-year-old eventually returned after missing the first four games of that season, but his shoulder hampered him throughout the entire year. He played in 12 games and allowed one sack after basically playing with one healthy shoulder. But Brown was eventually shut down for the Jets season finale once the team was eliminated the previous week.
After having offseason shoulder surgery and not practicing during OTAs (organized team activities) last spring, the offensive lineman was eventually cleared to practice late last August.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Brown was so eager to return to the field after his shoulder surgery that he felt like the team might have “compromised” some of his rehab in terms of the speed of it.
“I was a bit ambitious in my recovery time trying to get back,” Brown said. “I don’t think I was as strong as I could have been.
“The time off, I had a chance to get stronger and get a bit more adjusted than I was before. Coming back and having a few days of practice and going into a game, I don’t think I was quite ready yet.
“I do feel a lot better now, but I still have to trust the process of getting back into it and see how it feels and go from there.”
After Brown’s hip injury, the Jets began shuffling their offensive line.
Becton, who was starting at right tackle, moved into Brown’s left tackle spot. Then Alijah Vera-Tucker, who usually played at right guard, moved to right tackle. Rookie Joe Tippmann was inserted into the starting offensive line at right guard.
Center Connor McGovern (knee) and right guard Wes Schweitzer (calf) have been placed on injured reserve after last Sunday’s game against the Giants. Tippmann (quadriceps) has also been injured.
With all the changes on the Jets offensive line, it has been difficult to generate any continuity, which has hindered the offense a bit. Gang Green ranks 29th (273.3 yards per game) and 26th in points per game (18).
“It’s very frustrating because … everything starts up front,” Saleh said. “You want to get creative and you want to do different things but the protection has to hold up and a lot of times the protection, it comes from continuity and guys just knowing how to play off each other, how to pass off games, how to feel one another in their sets or in the run game, whatever it is.
“We love the guys we have in our room, we do. It’s just a matter of them just playing together and getting together and playing together and playing next to one another and communicating with one another. If we can just get some continuity going, the group that we have is good enough.”
Now that Brown appears close to returning, that will give the Jets some options on their offensive line. The Jets could move Becton back to right tackle and can play Billy Turner or Max Mitchell at right guard.
“Gotta put your work in,” Becton said about the possibility of moving back to right tackle. “The muscle memory of moving back to the other side.
“I just want to play football, I didn’t play football for two years. So I really don’t give a damn about where I’m at. I just want to play football.”
Mike White is back at quarterback for the New York Jets.
And just in time, with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
White was cleared by team doctors and will start Sunday in Seattle after he missed the Jets’ past two games while dealing with broken ribs suffered in New York’s 20-12 loss at Buffalo on Dec. 11.
“I thought Mike had been doing a great job moving the offense, sustaining drives and getting first downs,” coach Robert Saleh said while confirming the decision. “Much more efficient. Our offense was running with some good efficiency.
“It’s a great opportunity for him, a great opportunity for everybody.”
White has practiced on a limited basis since, but hadn’t been cleared for contact so he couldn’t play.
That clearance came Monday. And with the Jets (7-8) still in the playoff hunt with two games remaining, they get their quarterback back. And “barring injury,” Saleh said, for as long as the season lasts. But the coach wouldn’t go as far as to speculate whether White could be the long-term answer at quarterback.
“He just needs to take it one day at a time,” Saleh said, “and go from there.”
Saleh said Joe Flacco would serve as White’s backup and Zach Wilson will go from starting the past two games to being the No. 3 quarterback and inactive on Sunday.
White went 80 of 129 for 952 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions while starting three games in place of the benched Wilson. He was twice knocked out of the game against the Bills. X-rays at the stadium were clear and he finished the game, but CT scans at a hospital revealed a fracture to his ribs.
“A couple in a row,” White said two weeks ago, “that makes that area just kind of really vulnerable.”
Jets team doctors ruled he couldn’t be cleared for contact, and White said he sought the opinion of about 10 independent doctors who all concurred.
Wilson struggled mightily while starting the past two games in White’s absence, but struggled mightily. He was replaced by fourth-string quarterback Chris Streveler, promoted from the practice squad before the game, to give the Jets a spark in their 19-3 loss to Jacksonville last Thursday night.
Wilson, who was benched to reset his mechanics and mental approach, went 27 of 53 for 409 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in losses to Detroit and Jacksonville.
Saleh insisted Monday the Jets “are not quitting on the young man.” But Wilson’s performance against the Jaguars in front of a national audience — 9 of 18 for 92 yards and an INT — was a clear indication he hasn’t fixed his flaws.
“I still think he’s got a future here,” Saleh said. “I still think he’s going to be a really good quarterback. He needs time to sit back and continue the development that we’re trying to re-kickstart, if you will, after the New England game (before his first benching).
“But we still have him in our future and our plans.”
The Jets’ playoff situation appeared dire after that loss, but New York received some good news with the results of some other games over the weekend. Miami, New England and Las Vegas all lost, so New York remains in ninth place in the AFC playoff standings behind the Patriots (7-8) and Dolphins (8-7).
The Jets can snap an 11-year postseason drought if they win their final two games at Seattle and Miami, and the Patriots lose one of their last two against Miami at home or at Buffalo.
“We’ve still got to find ourselves, we’ve still got to find confidence and we’ve got to get the ball rolling,” Saleh said. “And it starts with how we prepare day in and day out and how we attack these moments.
“The playoffs and all that stuff is cool, but we’ve got to stay connected to this moment in Seattle and Seattle only.”
NOTES: Saleh is hopeful S Lamarcus Joyner will return this week from a hip injury that sidelined him the past two games. … Saleh said the addition of Streveler to the offense against Jacksonville “was a cool, little wrinkle” and compared it to what Taysom Hill has done with New Orleans. Streveler led the Jets with 54 yards rushing last Thursday night. “It’s something that we’re talking about,” Saleh said. “But it’s not a guarantee.”
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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Zach Wilson is getting another start for the New York Jets, and this one in prime time.
Coach Robert Saleh announced the decision Tuesday that Wilson will be under center Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars as the Jets (7-7) try to hold on in the AFC playoff hunt.
With Mike White not cleared for contact by doctors as he recovers from broken ribs, Saleh and the Jets will have Wilson make a second straight start in his return from a three-game benching.
“With Zach, he knows to prepare like he’s the No. 1 (quarterback),” Saleh said.
Wilson, who had an up-and-down performance last Sunday, has been taking the snaps with the starters during walkthrough practices this week, while White has been limited.
It sets up the second meeting between the top two picks from last year’s draft with Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (No. 1 overall) squaring off against Wilson, who went second. The Jets hung on for a 26-21 victory last December.
While Lawrence has blossomed in his second season, Wilson has continued to struggle and gives the Jets some pause as to whether he’s their long-term solution at quarterback.
“No one’s going to give up on someone just because it feels like if it doesn’t show up in Year One or Year Two, it’s like, move on,” Saleh said.
Wilson was benched for three games to work on his mechanics and mental approach with White starting in his place. Wilson had an up-and-down performance in his return last Sunday in the Jets’ 20-17 loss to Detroit.
He was 18 of 35 for 317 yards and two touchdowns overall, spanning a good first two quarters, a dismal third and a solid fourth. Wilson led New York to a go-ahead score late and was driving the Jets to a potential tying field goal in the final seconds.
“Zach is growing,” Saleh said. “He’s growing with this team, he’s growing with all of us. It’s just a matter of reps. And the more he sees it, the faster he’ll play. The faster he plays, the faster he’ll get the ball out. As things happen faster, his natural playing ability will come into play because he’s not thinking.
“But to get to a world where you’re playing without thought, you’ve got to get reps.”
White was twice knocked from the Jets’ loss to the Bills in Buffalo on Dec. 11 by big hits. He finished the game, but left the stadium in an ambulance to be examined at a hospital. After X-rays at the stadium were clear, CT scans revealed the rib fractures.
Saleh said White remains “week to week” in his recovery, but the Jets have not ruled him out for the rest of the season. White can practice, but is waiting to be cleared to play in games.
“Everything for Mike is to give him the opportunity to seek a second opinion and for him and his team to kind of make sure all the boxes are being checked,” Saleh said. “So from our point as coaches, we’re just allowing that process to happen and when everything aligns, we’ll make a decision.”
The Jets (7-7) have lost three straight games and seen their playoff chances dwindle. They likely need to win out, starting with their game on short rest against Jacksonville (6-8). The Jaguars have clawed their way into the AFC postseason hunt by winning two straight and three of four.
NOTES: Saleh ruled out WR Denzel Mims (concussion) and CB Brandin Echols (quadriceps) for the game. … WR Corey Davis (concussion) and DT Quinnen Williams (calf) are “trending in the right direction,” Saleh said. The coach added that Williams’ availability will likely be determined shortly before the game. “It feels a lot better than it did last week,” Saleh said.
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DENVER — Rookie Breece Hall ran for a 62-yard touchdown before leaving with a knee injury and the surprising New York Jets won their fourth straight by beating backup quarterback Brett Rypien and the punchless Denver Broncos 16-9 on Sunday.
Rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner broke up Rypien’s fourth-down pass into the end zone to Courtland Sutton with just under 2 minutes remaining. Rypien’s final heave in the closing moments fell woefully short of KJ Hamler’s grasp at the goal line.
The Jets (5-2) are off to their best start since 2010, have their first four-game winning streak since 2015 and already surpassed their win total from last year when they went 4-13. New York also improved to 4-0 on the road.
Denver starting quarterback Russell Wilson was ruled out 24 hours before kickoff with a pulled hamstring, missing a game for just the fourth time in his 11-year career. But the Broncos, who are last in the league in scoring, fared no better under Rypien, who was making his second career start.
The Broncos (2-5) lost their fourth straight despite another outstanding defensive performance.
Zach Wilson was held without a touchdown for the second straight week, but he did enough to lead the Jets to the win despite his pedestrian stats: 16 for 26 for 121 yards.
Rypien’s only other start was also against the Jets, a 37-28 win at MetLife Stadium in 2020, but he went 24 for 46 for 225 yards and no touchdowns and threw a crucial second-half interception in this one.
The Jets lost Hall to a left knee injury in the second quarter when he was tackled by Patrick Surtain II and Jonas Griffith after a short run. He was helped off the field and carted to the locker room.
Coach Robert Saleh said after the game the initial diagnosis for Hall is an ACL injury.
Hall finished with 72 yards on four carries, including the 62-yard touchdown run in which he hit a top speed of 21.87 mph according to NextGen Stats, the fastest by a ballcarrier this season.
Rypien’s throw to tight end Greg Dulcich in triple coverage was easily picked off by safety Lamarcus Joyner, whose 27-yard return to the Denver 37 set up Greg Zuerlein’s 33-yard field goal that gave the Jets a 13-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Zuerlein’s 45-yarder as the first half expired sent the Jets into halftime with a 10-9 lead.
That field goal was into the wind at the south end zone, the same direction that Brandon McManus missed an extra point following Latavius Murray’s 2-yard TD run.
McManus also missed a 56-yarder with the wind before making a 44-yarder to put Denver ahead 9-7.
Hall was injured on the next play from scrimmage and was helped off the field and taken to the medical tent on the Jets’ sideline.
The rookie second-rounder from Iowa State had established himself as a key playmaker for the Jets and was coming off a season-high 116 yards rushing at Green Bay. He leads the Jets with 463 yards and four touchdowns on 80 attempts.
Sure enough, both teams started out slowly on a windy afternoon. Zach Wilson misfired three times on the Jets’ opening drive that lasted all of 23 seconds, including the punt. The Broncos returned the favor with a 24-second drive on their second possession.
INJURIES
Jets: G Alijah Vera-Tucker (elbow) and WR Corey Davis (knee) left in the second quarter, along with Hall. … DL John Franklin-Myers left in the fourth quarter.
Broncos: RB Mike Boone left in the second with an ankle injury and OLB Barron Browning (hip) let in the third quarter. … RT Cam Fleming went out late in the game with a thigh injury.
UP NEXT
Jets: Wrapped up a stretch of three road games in four weeks and return to the Meadowlands next Sunday to face New England.
Broncos: Fly out Monday to London, where they’ll play the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium next Sunday.
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Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were routed by the New York Jets Sunday, 27-10.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Matt LaFleur had been a perfect 10-0 coming off a regular season loss.
That streak is over.
The Packers were 24-2 at Lambeau Field under LaFleur.
They’re now 24-3.
LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers are a mess. And Sunday was further proof.
The Packers dropped their second straight game, falling to the New York Jets, 27-10, at Lambeau Field. Green Bay is now 3-3 and trails first place Minnesota (5-1) by two games in the NFC North.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Jets’ win over the Packers, beginning with the ugly.
THE UGLY
OFFENSE: Six games into the season, Green Bay has scored just 107 points — a paltry 17.8 points per contest. And over the last six quarters, the Packers have just 10 offensive points.
Things were as ugly as ugly gets on Sunday.
Green Bay averaged just 4.0 yards a play. The Packers had only 278 total yards.
Green Bay managed only 60 rushing yards. And Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and had a remarkably uneven game, averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt and finishing with an 88.1 rating.
“I expect that typical stretch coming up at some point where we get really hot,” Rodgers said last week. “Hopefully it starts this week. But I think that’s right around the corner.”
Not quite.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Green Bay’s special teams, which has been largely abysmal since 2005, had shown signs of progress this season under new coordinator Rich Bisaccia. That changed Sunday.
The Jets Michael Clemens blocked a Pat O’Donnell punt in the third quarter, Will Parks recovered and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown that gave New York a 17-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Jets Quinnen Williams blocked Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal.
New York’s Braxton Berrios also averaged 29.0 yards per kick return and 11.3 on punt returns.
Green Bay’s Eric Wilson did block a Braden Mann punt. Overall, though, Bisaccia’s units were whipped by the Jets’ special teams.
“I’d like to think that if we can find a certain consistent balance into what we’re trying to do, then I think you have a chance to improve and get better every day in the fundamentals and technique we’re asking you to do,” Bisaccia said last week. “I think our job is to put them in position just to do what they really do well, and then individually can be successful which means collectively we all have a chance to be successful.”
The Packers were anything but successful Sunday.
DEFENSE: Green Bay believed it had one of the NFL’s elite defenses when the season began.
That hasn’t been the case — and the Packers’ defense was completely overwhelmed in the second half Sunday.
Green Bay needed its defense to step up in what was a 3-3 game at halftime. Instead, the Jets dominated after intermission, scored 17 points on their final three offensive possessions and pulled away.
First, Braxton Berrios had a 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse. Then, Breece Hall ripped off a 34-yard touchdown run. And lastly, the Jets marched 57 yards and kicked a field goal that stretched their lead to 27-10 and ended things.
The Jets ran the ball for 179 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. And the hot seat under defensive coordinator Joe Barry is now scorching.
“We already know it’s going to come,” Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas said this week. “We just can’t press it. I think everybody knows how good we can be and everybody sees the names, so it’s like, ‘We expect so much of these guys.’ Right now, it’s not happening but it’s still early. It’s still early.”
Perhaps. But Green Bay continues to look for answers it can’t find.
THE BAD
OFFENSIVE LINE: Green Bay’s group was atrocious throughout the day and was consistently whipped by the Jets’ defensive front.
Rodgers was sacked four times and was hit nine more times. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams dominated inside with two sacks and three quarterback hits.
Struggling right guard Royce Newman was benched in the second quarter and replaced with Jake Hanson. Hanson quickly suffered a biceps injury, though, and Newman re-entered the game.
Right tackle Elgton Jenkins was flagged three times during a rocky performance. And the entire line was overwhelmed throughout.
THE AARON JONES MYSTERY: Jones, Green Bay’s most dynamic offensive playmaker, had just three carries in the first half and only one reception.
He finished with nine carries for 19 yards and three catches for 25 yards.
Jones entered the day averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per game, but now has just 70 carries this season (11.7 per game).
“It’s hard to sit up here and justify that to everybody, to our team,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week of Jones’ limited workload.
Jones entered the year as one of only three players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163) and 40-plus rushing TDs (41) with an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons. The other two? Oh, just Hall of Famers Jim Brown (1957-61) and Jim Taylor (1958-62).
Among running backs with at least 750 career carries, Jones ranks fifth all-time in yards per carry at 5.16. This year, Jones is averaging a ridiculous 6.39 yards per attempt.
And from 2019-21, only two running backs have posted 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage and 10-plus scrimmage touchdowns each year: Jones and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.
But Jones continues to be the most under-utilized player in the league. That didn’t change on Sunday, and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in Green Bay right now.
RANDALL COBB: Green Bay’s veteran wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter, then left on a cart. While exiting Lambeau Field, Cobb teared up and put a towel over his head.
What that means for his future remains to be seen.
Cobb entered the day tied for second on the team with 17 catches and tied for second in targets (25).
In Green Bay’s loss to the New York Giants last week, Cobb caught seven passes for 99 yards.
“I feel great,” Cobb said last week. “I’ve been telling you all that for the past couple of weeks. I feel great.”
Unfortunately for Cobb and the Packers, he wasn’t feeling so good on Sunday.
THE GOOD
ROBERT TONYAN: Green Bay’s tight end has been quiet through five games with just 17 catches for 129 yards (7.6 average) and one touchdown. But Tonyan had his best game of 2022 against the Jets.
Tonyan had six catches for 61 yards in the first half and finished with a team-high 10 catches for 90 yards.
Less than a year after suffering a torn ACL, Tonyan is starting to resemble his old self.
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay’s Eric Wilson blocked a punt in the second quarter. … Green Bay rookie fifth round draft pick Kingsley Enagbare notched his first career sack. Enagbare, an outside linebacker, dumped Wilson for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … Rashan Gary had a sack and has now posted sacks in five of six games this year.
