Jets Notes

Edition 652

Good morning! ☕

I hope you haven’t missed TJW too much! Since our last edition Euro 2024 has kicked off and England are off to a winning start (come on!😁), the Boston Celtics have captured their 18th title and Florida are trying to avoid blowing a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, hopefully we’ll still be celebrating our second Super Bowl next season and the more the off-season plays out, the more I like our chances.

As I’ve said last week, for the next month we’re going to reduce TJW to a couple of sends a week as the NFL is in hibernation. It really is the only time in the NFL calendar when nothing is happening at all. Players and coaches are on holiday, the draft and free agency is done, off-season activities are done, it’s all quiet until TC.

Just a quick note. Can I kindly ask that you don't share the entire TJW article on social media. I'm grateful to every subscriber and appreciate anyone who decides to share my work, but as people pay for these posts, it seems unfair that people who have decided not to subscribe are getting it for free. By all means please share everything through the Quick Throws section, but there tends to be a paywall after that. Thank you guys! 👍

🟢 Robert Saleh sat down with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated to talk all things Jets and Aaron Rodgers. We’ve heard this before but the Jets struggled to pivot after designing an offence around Rodgers - "We went into last offseason, first year in the new offense, first year with a Hall of Fame quarterback, and we installed an offense designed for 17 games worth of Aaron Rodgers," Saleh explained. "When he got hurt, we still wanted to maintain what we installed. Maybe it wasn’t as much as Aaron would have done. But we wanted to keep the same philosophy of what we’re trying to get done."

⚪ One interesting comment was based around the focus that the team have come in with this year, with the hoopla of the Aaron Rodgers acquisition having died down: "We went into last offseason, first year in the new offense, first year with a Hall of Fame quarterback, and we installed an offense designed for 17 games worth of Aaron Rodgers," Saleh explained. "When he got hurt, we still wanted to maintain what we installed. Maybe it wasn’t as much as Aaron would have done. But we wanted to keep the same philosophy of what we’re trying to get done."

🟢 Breer also noted that the Jets and Aaron Rodgers came to an agreement over the absence being unexcused - "I did a little more digging over the past few days," Breer explained. "What more I could ascertain was how the Jets and Rodgers reached an understanding of the 'one team, one set of rules' logic to not excusing his leave. Rodgers, I’m told, was good with it." So while the optics were bad (IMO) the team, players and Rodgers agreed with the one team, one rules principle which is vital in any organisations.

⚪ Sauce Gardner has been talking to the official website on his goals for the new season: "I want to win a Super Bowl," he said. "That's my team goal. I got of a lot of individual goals, but it's not all about me. I'll wait until we get a little bit closer to share those." He also simplified the process to go from being the best, to staying the best - "Just keep finding ways to get better," he said of his offseason focus. "Keep making my strengths even more of strengths and turn my weaknesses into strengths. That's all it is. It's not rocket science. Just take it one step at a time."

🟢 The NFL ran an article on the biggest remaining weaknesses in the NFL. I checked out the article expecting to see the Jets safety position, instead I saw the Jets tight end position, which is wide of the mark IMO - “There was a reason seemingly every mocker pegged Brock Bowers to Gang Green leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft. Tyler Conklin sits atop the TE depth chart. He's a fine supplemental player, but not one who will command attention or see a major leap in production. He is what he is entering his seventh pro campaign. Fortunately for Conklin, the Jets didn't stockpile the position to push him for reps. Jeremy Ruckert has 17 career catches, Kenny Yeboah has four, Zack Kuntz has two career offensive snaps, and Lincoln Sefcik and Kevin Foelsch are undrafted free-agent signees. Aaron Rodgers has performed without special tight end talent in the past, so it's not an emergency-siren situation. However, bolstering the unit would help take some pressure off a pass-catching group that is counting heavily on receiver Mike Williams (torn ACL last September) returning to form.”

⚪ PFF ran an article outlining the best player at each position born in the 2000’s and the Jets had two players make the list. Sauce Gardner of course, and Garrett Wilson - “While Wilson lacked stability at quarterback over the first two seasons of his career, he has already established himself as one of the best young wide receivers in the league. Despite experiencing a sophomore slump in 2023, he still earned an 83.0 PFF receiving grade over the past two seasons, ranking 20th among 82 qualifying receivers. Once Wilson gets better quarterback play — the hope is that comes from Aaron Rodgers in 2024 — he is expected to put up better numbers. The Jets' passing game revolves around him, as he has been targeted on 24.2% of pass plays since 2022, which ranks 15th among wide receivers.”

🟢 They also had an article outlining the 7 teams under the most pressure to succeed in 2024 and it’s no surprise to see the Jets on that list:

“There’s no organization under more pressure to finally right the ship this upcoming season than the Jets. After the team acquired Aaron Rodgers last year, it seemed as though a decade-plus streak of disappointment would come to an end. But Rodgers tore his Achilles on just the fourth play of the 2023 season, and his backup quarterbacks were awful in his stead.

The team’s defense was yet again phenomenal — finishing first in PFF grade and third in EPA per play — and should be lights-out yet again. The offense’s weak points — the offensive line and wide receiver room — were addressed by the additions of Mike Williams, Tyron Smith, John Simpson, Morgan Moses, Olu Fashanu and Malachi Corley. All-world talent on both sides of the ball is there for the Jets to not only make the playoffs, but even win a game.

Owner Woody Johnson entrusted head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas for at least one more year, but if New York can’t foster success in Rodgers’ age-40 season, it feels like both leaders might unceremoniously head for the exits.”

⚪ Breece Hall has been talking about his rivalry with college teammate Brock Purdy - The two meet on MNF to kickstart the season.

With training camp still over a month away, we have time to ponder the big questions. But here are a few thoughts occupying my mind as we race (or crawl) to the season.