The Jets suffered a hugely disappointing loss to the Broncos on Sunday, and a former Gang Green quarterback believes something is amiss between Aaron Rodgers and head coach Robert Saleh.
After a dominant home win over the Patriots in Week 3, the Jets crashed back down to earth as they lost 10-9 to Denver and failed to score a touchdown in front of their home fans.
And radio host Boomer Esiason, who played with the Jets from 1993-95, believes there is a ‘major issue’ between the team’s star quarterback and its coach.
‘I try to watch to see if I see any interactions [between Rodgers and Saleh] on the sideline or anything – nothing, nothing. I see a guy walking right past another guy,’ he began on WFAN’s Boomer and Gio show.
‘…I had those days with two coaches in particular, and it’s because I didn’t trust the guy, and I didn’t like the guy, I didn’t [know] what he was doing and it p***ed me off. And if you read my body language in those days…you could tell that I was p***ed off.
Aaron Rodgers was understandably displeased after the Jets’ 10-9 home loss on Sunday
It was the 35th loss of Robert Saleh’s coaching tenure in New York – compared to just 20 wins
‘And when I see Aaron Rodgers on the sideline and I see him after the game in the postgame press conference… there is a major issue there. Both will deny it, I guarantee it, but there is an issue there. And it’s because you have this 40-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback to be dealing with a coach that I think he doesn’t respect.’
Esiason’s comments came after a somewhat awkward answer from Rodgers in the postgame press conference, regarding Saleh’s comments on the team’s pre-snap cadences.
After the Jets had five false starts vs. Denver, Saleh questioned whether his team was ‘good enough’ to handle the current pre-snap cadence, but Rodgers disagreed with ‘dialing it back’ as per SNY’s Connor Hughes.
‘That’s one way to do it. The other way is to hold them accountable,’ he said. ‘We haven’t had an issue… until this.’
Rodgers and Saleh appeared to have a tense moment in Week 3 but Rodgers played it down
Nonetheless, former NFL QB Boomer Esiason thinks there is a ‘major issue’ between the pair
Rodgers and Saleh also had a seemingly tense sideline exchange after the Jets took the lead over the Patriots in Week 3, as Rodgers lightly shoved Saleh and many fans believed he told his coach it was ‘too early’ to be getting overly excited.
However, Rodgers played down the incident after the game, saying that the moment ‘wasn’t awkward at all’ and that he in fact said ‘two-score lead’ to his coach – which is apparently a common refrain of Saleh’s.
Regardless, it’s true that Saleh’s resume as a head coach is unconvincing at the minute.
While he was certainly hamstrung by Rodgers’ injury last year and the poor quarterback play of Zach Wilson from 2021-23, Saleh is just 20-35 as a head coach.
Rodgers, of course, is a 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro and one-time Super Bowl, who, as Esiason mentioned, is a surefire Hall of Famer when he’s finished playing.
The Jets will look to bounce back this weekend against the undefeated Vikings.
