Aaron Rodgers resents the accusations that he orchestrated the New York Jets decision to fire Robert Saleh, but where is he even finding those accusations?
Jets owner Woody Johnson made the surprising decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh Tuesday morning. And while Johnson’s ultimate decision of moving on from Saleh and his 20-36 coaching record has received support, the timing was a surprise considering it occurred just five weeks into the season with the Jets only one game out of first place.
Still, it has been widely reported as being Johnson’s decision, and one that received no input from Rodgers. Despite the decision already being attributed to Johnson, Rodgers felt the need to dispel any reports that he prompted Saleh’s firing during his Wednesday afternoon appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I’m not gonna spend more than one sentence in response to it,” Rodgers told McAfee. “And that is that I resent any of those allegations because they’re patently false. It’s interesting, the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don’t. But I love Robert.”
McAfee responded by predicting the media will deceitfully spin what Rodgers said into a false narrative.
“They’ll take something you said there and chop it up and then say…that’s the world we’re in. Journalistic standards,” McAfee said at the end of the above 43-second clip that his show chopped up and shared on social media.
The question to Rodgers, however, is where are those “ridiculous allegations” coming from? To be fair, there have been some pretty wild rumors spreading about the reason Saleh was fired, but almost none of them begin with Rodgers. It might be a narrative found among fans on social media, but the media is not reporting this was Rodgers’ decision.
There is reason to think Rodgers may have wanted to move on from Saleh. The fact that Saleh called his trip to Egypt an “unexcused absence,” their awkward non-hug, and the “cadence” issue that was a head coach-created narrative, not a media-driven one. The media could have claimed Rodgers wanted Saleh fired and pointed to those examples, but they’re not. Rodgers might even deserve blame for Saleh’s firing, but only because his poor play on the field is the lead reason the Jets are stuck at 2-3 on the season.
Does it seem strange that Johnson would have spoken to Rodgers hours before firing Saleh without tipping his star quarterback off on the decision he was mulling? Sure. But believing Johnson may have privately warned Rodgers of his imminent decision is very different from reporting the quarterback fired his own head coach. Taking a broad scan of the reporting in the wake of Saleh’s firing, it would be a ridiculous allegation to claim the media is pinning this firing on Rodgers. Jets and NFL reporters should resent any of those allegations.
- Brandon Contes
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