Did Jets head coach Robert Saleh backtrack on ‘cadence’ comments about quarterback Aaron Rodgers?
Call it what you want, but the Jets head coach appears to be backtracking after his recent comments were taken as a direct critique of his star quarterback.
While it will likely amount to nothing, there are signs that suggest there is friction between New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and his current starting quarterback and four-time league MVP, Aaron Rodgers.
What’s going on between Roger Saleh & Aaron Rodgers?
“There was never a cadence issue.” Those were the words used by New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh when questioned about the comments he made following the team’s recent 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos. If you missed it, Saleh raised eyebrows postgame when he addressed the high number of penalties that the Jets were called for during the weekend’s game. To be clear, the Jets were called for an NFL-high 13 times in the defeat, with eight of those calls issued to the offense. Understandably, it led to questions about quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his well-known pre-snap calls.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Saleh said Sunday night. “Whether or not we’re good enough to handle or ready to handle all the cadence. Cadence had not been an issue all camp. [I] felt like our operation had been operating pretty good. Obviously today [we] took a major step back.” Naturally, Rodgers was questioned about his coach’s stance and responded by alluding to accountability. “That’s one way to do it,” Rodgers said at the time. “The other way is to hold [players] accountable. We haven’t had an issue. We’ve only had one false start. [Right tackle] Morgan [Moses] had one false start, I believe, until this. [It’s] been a weapon. We use it every day in practice. We rarely have a false start. To have five today...seems like an outlier. I don’t know if we need to make mass changes based on kind of an outlier game.”
By Monday, both men seemed to take a lighter tone with Saleh stating, “We’re always going to push the envelope with cadence”, while Rodgers told the Pat McCaffee Show that he and his coach “have a great relationship.” Indeed, it was a sentiment echoed by Saleh himself on Tuesday when speaking about his relationship with the signal-caller. “Aaron and I are fantastic, Love the guy.” Now, here’s the thing: As much as it may well be the case that Saleh’s words were misinterpreted, it certainly doesn’t look that way. If we revert to his, “There was never a cadence issue” statement, that seems to be in direct contradiction to what he said post-game about the need to “figure it out.”
So, where does that leave us? For starters, the Jets are currently, 2-2 and will face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in Week 5. That’s to say that whatever issues there are or aren’t, Rodgers, Saleh, and everybody else will need to be on the same page when kickoff rolls around. If we assume that Rodgers is right in that the penalty-riddled loss to the Broncos was an outlier, then there’s nothing for Jets fans to worry about. If on the other hand, his famous pre-snap calls are actually a problem, then it may be that he will have to take some accountability as well.