Robert Saleh to concentrate more on offense in effort to help fix issues

Jets owner Woody Johnson said before the NFL Honors that head coach Robert Saleh will concentrate more on offense to help fix the issues on that side of the ball.

“We’ve got a lot to fix, and so this year we’re gonna fix it,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said Thursday, via CBS Sports. “We’re going to get where we have to be. … Disappointment doesn’t nearly cover it. We work for the fans, and we want to do a good job for the fans. To see them disappointed like this the way we had everything going is very frustrating. Very difficult. Hard to take. … These games are very hard to take.”

Saleh let offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett take the reigns of the offense in 2023, but playcalling became a major question throughout the season following the Week 1 Achilles injury to quarterback Aaron Rodgers after the Jets tailored their offense to Rodgers throughout the offseason.

Johnson believes this will help Saleh become a better head coach while also showing plenty of faith in defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

“He is going to be a lot better head coach,” Johnson said of Saleh, via CBS. “One thing about head coaches is you get better as you get more experience. He is going to concentrate on offense. He has Jeff to do the defense. We have good special teams. It’s offense, offense, offense. Get the quarterback moving. Get the line moving. Work on the run and do all that you have to do to win. You can’t do one thing you have to do it all. It’s not just one player.”

It’s not just one player but the Jets did all they could to rally around one player. Now, it’s about getting the entire offense up and running after a season that saw one of the worst offensive outputs of any team in recent memory, leading to a second straight 7-10 season and another top-ten pick in the upcoming draft.

Johnson all but put the Jets and Saleh on full notice at the NFL Honors. He wouldn’t come out and say he’s making a true playoff mandate, but he came about as close as he could to doing so. Now Johnson adds this, more or less saying Hackett isn’t cutting it on his own and needs help. How Saleh helps navigate the offense with Rodgers at the helm will be fascinating to watch.