Former NFL NBC “Sunday Night Football” reporter Michele Tafoya has a fascinating theory as to why the New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh.
In a stunning move, the Jets announced on Tuesday that they relieved Robert Saleh from his coaching duties. The move came just two days after the Jets lost a close 23-17 contest to the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings, and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named the interim HC.
During an appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” podcast, Tafoya opined that the Jets fired Saleh to “shift blame” away from struggling veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“But the Jets are looking to shake things up. Obviously, this has been an incredibly disappointing start for the entire team. A lot of people want to point the finger at Aaron, maybe this is a way to shift blame. I don’t know, this is fascinating to me.”
There is speculation that Rodgers played a hand in the firing of Robert Saleh. The four-time league MVP developed a reputation as a “coach killer” after Mike McCarthy was fired by the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
But during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” today, Rodgers denied rumors that he pushed for Saleh’s firing, calling them “patently false.”
“I resent any of those accusations, because they are patently false. It’s interesting, the amount of power that people think I have, which I don’t.”
– Aaron Rodgers on Robert Saleh’s firing
(via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/5tBeMmdut3
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 9, 2024
Robert Saleh’s firing was largely surprising because teams in playoff contention rarely make a midseason coaching change. Usually, a coach is fired during the season if his team is at or near the bottom of the standings and out of the playoff race.
At 2-3, the Jets are far from finished. They’ve played a difficult schedule and could claw back into first place in the AFC East with a victory over the Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football” next week.
Robert Saleh Never Got A Fair Shot With The Jets
Saleh’s first two seasons as the Jets head coach (2021 to 2022) were rebuilding years with minimal expectations. It’s not Saleh’s fault that the Jets failed to provide him with an adequate backup QB plan after Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week 1 vs. the Bills last year.
Saleh finally had a competent quarterback this year with a healthy Rodgers, and yet it only took five games for him to get fired. If the Jets don’t end up making the playoffs this year, that will say more about the organization as a whole than Saleh’s performance as a coach.
