Column: Aaron Rodgers and the Jets are destined to bring out the worst in each other

A month ago, Robert Saleh looked like a goner. It was an absurd sight. After a season-opening road loss to a championship-caliber opponent, after the first game for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a year, the end still felt imminent.

Saleh stood behind a lectern at Levi’s Stadium on Sept. 9, and the New York Jets coach proceeded to make vows he couldn’t keep. If you had been in the room, you also would have felt the inevitability of doom. As disappointing as the Jets had played in a 32-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, they were 0-1. Yet Saleh’s mood made you think they were 0-3. In record time, the Aaron Rodgers Effect turned morose.

Saleh spoke softly. He appeared defeated. He might as well have been pulling against a leash.

“We’ll be better - 100 percent,” he said. “I’m not worried. We’ll get it fixed.”

No, Saleh won’t get it fixed. He won’t be allowed to try. The Jets fired the coach Tuesday after a 2-3 start, a record that doesn’t merit panic except for a franchise with a long history of playing with gasoline and matches.

Even without Rodgers, the Jets are the kind of lunkheaded operation that would get rid of a coach six days before playing the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC East. But with him, they are more restless and reckless than ever, desperate to get the most out of a 40-year-old superstar whose career is about to enter a darkness retreat. It was bad enough when owner Woody Johnson functioned as a classic driftless sports owner. But now that he’s making moves with intention, he might be worse because he mostly aims to placate Rodgers, who cannot carry a team the way he once did.

Rodgers and the Jets are destined to bring out the worst in each other, and the Saleh firing will only expedite the process. That isn’t meant to defend Saleh blindly. He had a 20-36 record in three-plus seasons in New York, and with any franchise, he would have had a simmering seat this season. But the situation isn’t so dire that he needed to be out five games into his first full year with a healthy Rodgers - not with all of the Jets’ realistic goals still within reach.

They’re not a Super Bowl team. They never were. Look past the hype, and they’ve always been a 10-7 type of team if Rodgers can be steady. Does a coaching shake-up barely one quarter into the season really improve their chances of realizing such potential?

“This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction,” Johnson said in a statement.

The Jets would have been better off staying cool. Or if Johnson was so down on Saleh, he should have fired him after last season, which he reportedly considered. That would have been unfair. The Jets went 7-10 in 2023 despite losing Rodgers to an Achilles’ tendon tear on their first drive of the season. But getting rid of the coach after he held things together would have seemed merciful compared with this premature in-season dismissal.

Rodgers is influencing little more than chaos right now. As a first-time head coach without a winning track record, Saleh never commanded the quarterback’s respect. It was evident after a recent lackluster 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos. Saleh referenced a possible need to dial back the cadence of the offense. When asked about that remark, Rodgers shot back: “That’s one way to do it. The other way is to hold them accountable.”

They had a loose alliance, not a true player-coach dynamic. That’s manageable in a good organization. Many coaches encounter this situation with a star quarterback, but the relationship is usually cushioned by a quality front office, a well-devised roster and a defined culture. Instead, with the Jets, Rodgers arrived as the offensive savior for a team that built through the expertise of Saleh, a sharp defensive mind. To entice Rodgers to come via trade from Green Bay, the Jets paired him with his old offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, even though Hackett had bombed as the coach of the Denver Broncos.

Upon arrival, Rodgers took a $35 million pay cut from the $110 million in guaranteed money remaining on his contract. It was a gesture intended to help New York build a stronger team, but it also gave Rodgers a tremendous level of control. Rodgers knew he needed help, but from the beginning it has been clear he didn’t fully trust the Jets.

In Green Bay, he often grumbled, but he had to accept the way the Packers operate. They balanced their vision and his temperamental genius for 18 seasons. Rodgers needed to go to another team with a backbone and a winning tradition. Instead, he chose one that would do anything to have him. It’s the least surprising thing of all that the Jets can’t provide the structure it takes to access the magic within the eccentric quarterback.

Saleh didn’t stand a chance. When Rodgers skipped mandatory minicamp to take an Egyptian vacation, he put the coach in an impossible situation. The Jets had to punish and smooth things over with Rodgers, who was sensitive to criticism he invited. The other players in the locker room noticed the tap dancing. The Jets are too young and unaccomplished to handle such inequitable leadership, and they’ve performed accordingly to start this season.

With Saleh out, all scrutiny turns to Rodgers. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is the interim coach, so the setup hasn’t changed much: defensive head coach, offense in the hands of Rodgers and Hackett. It’s an offense that ranks 27th of 32 in the NFL, producing just 286.6 yards per game. Even if you give him grace because of last season’s injury, Rodgers is off to an alarmingly terrible start, completing just 61 percent of his passes and throwing for only 6.0 yards per attempt.

Saleh isn’t around to blame anymore. This should have been the season that he showed what he’s capable of with a competent quarterback. However, that competent quarterback has yet to surface.

Ten years ago, Rodgers told Packers fans to “R-E-L-A-X” after a 1-2 start. Green Bay recovered and made it to the NFC championship game. That dude was 30 and cool as can be. Now he’s 40, struggling and isolated. Rodgers is certain to act unbothered, but on the inside it must be getting harder and harder for him to relax.

To win, he must overcome the Jets and their opponents. To stabilize, the Jets must overcome him and their worst impulses. Perhaps they can catch fire for a while, but in the end, everyone is destined to get burned.