Jets turn to Todd Downing

Edition #719

Good morning!

Jeff Ulbrich has made his first big decision as Head Coach of the New York Jets, deciding to strip Nathaniel Hackett of his play-calling duties and hand them instead to passing game coordinator Todd Downing.

Ulbrich confirmed that he had spoken to star quarterback Aaron Rodgers about making the move and the future Hall of Famer was onboard with the change, which is notable considering his close personal relationship with Hackett.

I don’t know if this move will kickstart the run-game, I don’t know if it will ensure that the lineman know who they’re supposed to be blocking, or help Allen Lazard catch the football. I don’t know if it will improve the chemistry between Rodgers and Wilson or get Mike Williams more involved. I don’t know if it will keep Brendon Bates off the field or if Braelon Allen will get the goal-line work. What I do know is that we needed a change, we needed a new voice and we needed a new direction.

If this doesn’t work then the Jets will have to go back to the drawing board, but this is a huge opportunity for Todd Downing.

• Ulbrich has confirmed that Todd Downing will have complete say on the game-plan and the calls that are being sent into the huddle: "I'm going to make Todd Downing the play-caller for the New York Jets," Ulbrich said. "And this is more a byproduct of a different take on things. I'm not saying it's a better or worse take on things by any means, but just a different take on things, a fresh approach. Ultimately, Todd will have the full say on the game plan and ultimately the plays that are called within the game."

• Ulbrich also confirmed that it was more his personality and style of play that he wanted to infuse into the offence - "I definitely want to have an influence there as well," Ulbrich said of the offense. "I'm going to look really hard this week at how I can find those places to infuse my personality into that side of the ball. From a strategic or from a schematic standpoint, I don't know if there will be a ton of input. But as far as style of play – absolutely. The way this thing looks Monday night, I'm hopeful that I can infuse that into them."

• He also confirmed that Hackett would stay with the team and by the sounds of the quote, that wasn’t always a given: "He is going to continue to be a big part of the success we're going to have from an offensive perspective," Ulbrich said of Hackett. "I feel so fortunate that he is staying with us. Here's a guy that has been a head coach in this league and willing to draw cards, willing to do whatever it takes. A true heart of a servant. "

• He also confirmed that he will continue to call the plays on the defensive side of the ball. A lot of head coaches call plays on their specialised side of the ball, so I don’t see any issues here. He may be the interim Head Coach, but he’s also going to continue as the defensive coordinator.

• Ulbrich was asked about the slow starts and his response, the team needs to develop a "heightened sense of urgency." - Amen.

• Rodgers believes that this is a good opportunity for the Jets to reset as an offence and at the end of the day it’s on the players for not performing. "When something like this happens, it's a reset for everybody. When you make a change on the offense, it's a mirror that's held up for all of us who played and we all feel terrible about the opportunity that we had, that we squandered, that led to Robert getting fired and Hack getting demoted. I play better, this doesn't happen. We play better on offense, this doesn't happen. So I think it puts a spotlight on us, and now it's on us to do this. You know, we need to be accountable to each other. We got to raise the level of our play to the standard that we set during training camp."

• More from Rodgers here - "I knew there'd be changes after they let Robert go. [I] had conversations with Brick over the two days. I knew that he was thinking about it, leaning toward it, and I told him I'd back him up, whatever he decided."

• Haason Reddick’s agency CAA has dropped him, and not the other way around. This makes perfect sense if the agency are trying to get him to report and he’s flat out refusing, because the optics from the outside is that he’s being poorly advised and that doesn’t look good on the agency. His fines are around $9 million now and I genuinely don’t know what the end game for Reddick is here. If he sits out the year, the Jets retain his rights and we do this dance next year. Problem for him is he’s another year older and hasn’t played football in over 12 months. If the Jets weren’t willing to give him the money this year, they certainly won’t next year. I have to question his intelligence and it seems even his agency have abandoned him and they’re always the last ones to jump ship.

Wood Johnson decided to roll the dice by firing Robert Saleh believing the product on the field didn’t match the talent in the locker room. Now Jeff Ulbrich has decided that the offensive output doesn’t match the offensive personnel, demoting Aaron Rodgers buddy Nathaniel Hackett and promoting Todd Downing, but how much will change?