Mike LaFleur’s first big swing in Arizona only sharpened the questions around the Jets’ decision to move on from him and stay with Robert Saleh.
On the same weekend the New York Jets opened with a trouncing of the Tennessee Titans, their former offensive coordinator was helping the Arizona Cardinals pull off an upset over the heavily favored Los Angeles Chargers. LaFleur, who was let go after the 2022 season, had his new team looking competitive right away - and the result only made the Jets’ coaching path look more puzzling.
Arizona was hardly expected to arrive as a polished product. The source had them pegged by plenty of people as a team that could finish with the worst record in the NFL this season. Instead, LaFleur walked into his debut on the road against a Chargers team that many expected big things from and came away with a convincing win.
That matters because LaFleur’s time in New York was always going to be judged through the lens of the quarterbacks he had to work with. The numbers from his Jets run will never jump off the page, but the offense looked far more alive whenever someone other than Zach Wilson was taking snaps. Mike White, Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson all produced a unit that was not just better, but “incredibly dynamic.”
Rather than keeping the coach who clearly understood where the league was heading schematically, the Jets chose to go in another direction and let Saleh bring in Nathaniel Hackett as part of the Aaron Rodgers pursuit. Jets fans, as the source puts it, need no further reminders of how that pairing ended up.
There’s also a bit of irony in the way the Arizona staff has been built. Hackett is back working under LaFleur as his non-play-calling offensive coordinator, but this is LaFleur’s operation now. Jacoby Brissett was able to “slice and dice” a respected Chargers defense, a performance that only adds to the sense of what the Jets might have had with a quarterback who had a pulse.
For plenty of Jets fans, the appeal is obvious: they want the young offensive mind from the Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay ecosystem. The organization had someone with experience in both trees and let him go. The source suggests that happened either because of friction with a quarterback who was described there as an obvious bust, or simply to give fans a pound of flesh after 2022.
However it gets framed, LaFleur is already pushing toward the kind of what-if label that hangs around franchises for years. The Jets trusted Saleh, and the source argues that choice has already worn thin and still doesn’t look any better in Tennessee.
In Other News...
Jets Receiver Depth Suddenly Looks Like A Real Week 2 Problem
Omar Cooper Jr.s season opener ended with more than just the usual rookie turbulence. The Jets wide receiver was forced out with a high ankle sprain, and the next round of testing will determine just how serious the injury is and how long he might be sidelined. For a team already trying to settle its passing-game depth early in the year, the timing could hardly be worse.
The injury leaves New York with only four healthy receivers on the active roster, which immediately puts the position under a brighter spotlight heading into Week 2. The Jets do have two wideouts on the practice squad, but the situation has already opened the door to roster maneuvering and the possibility of adding a veteran free agent if the team decides it needs more help on the perimeter. [Read more 🡒]
Frank Reich Gave Jets Fans A Week 1 Debate They Wanted
Frank Reichs first game steering the Jets offense gave the fan base plenty to chew on, and not just because the numbers looked clean on the final sheet. Even with rookie Omar Cooper Jr. going down early, the unit kept moving behind Geno Smith, piling up 367 yards and stringing together five scoring drives while Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell each found ways to shape the night.
For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for an identity on offense, the question now is how much of this outing was a true sign of progress and how much came against a defense that was not exactly built to scare anyone. The Jets won comfortably, but Reich still managed to leave fans with the kind of Week 1 argument they always want: whether this was the start of something real or just a promising snapshot against the wrong opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Controversial Kicker Decision Suddenly Looks A Lot Different
The Jets kicking situation looked unsettled all summer after they let Nick Folk walk in free agency and cycled through options before settling on Jason Sanders for Week 1. Folk ended up with Atlanta, while Sanders handled the job in New Yorks opener and helped steady things in a win by making three of four field-goal attempts, giving the Jets at least an immediate answer after a messy search.
Folks debut with the Falcons, meanwhile, did not go the way either side would have hoped. He missed two field goals, a reminder that even a proven kicker can suddenly look vulnerable, especially as age starts to become part of the conversation at the position. For the Jets, the early returns make the decision feel a lot different now than it did when Folk first left. [Read more 🡒]