Jets GM Joe Douglas is facing an uncertain future while hoping the 3-6 team can change the narrative
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Joe Douglas recognizes that his future with the New York Jets is uncertain.
Especially when the only head coach he helped hire was already fired. And the fact owner that Woody Johnson didn't consult with his general manager before making the surprising move last month.
“Yeah, I mean we haven’t had a winning season, so we’re sitting here at 3-6 and so there’s a lot of frustration,” said Douglas, speaking Wednesday to reporters for the first time since before the season began.
“Obviously, it starts with me,” he added. "I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could have done better. Obviously, when a situation happens like what happened four weeks ago, you have a lot of self-reflective moments on the things that you could have done better to keep that from happening.
“But we've got an opportunity here with these last stretch games to change that narrative.”
Douglas insisted a few times during his nine-minute chat with reporters outside the front entrance of the team's facility that he's focused on the task at hand: helping guide the Jets on a second-half run with Aaron Rodgers that will make up for their dreadful start amid Super Bowl aspirations.
New York is 30-62 since Douglas took over for the fired Mike Maccagnan in June 2019. The Jets haven't sniffed the playoffs during his tenure and are inching closer to extending the NFL's longest active postseason drought to 14 seasons.
Still, Douglas, whose contract expires after this season, insists he's not concerned about his job security.
“No, I come in here every day and just want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and reach its destination,” he said. "And whatever happens, happens.”
For the Jets, anything that could happen this season has.
After a 2-3 start, Johnson decided he had seen enough in three-plus seasons with Robert Saleh as his coach and fired him. It was the first time the Jets owner made a midseason coaching change since taking over the franchise in 2000.
Johnson's brother Christopher actually hired Saleh while Woody was still serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Donald Trump, a role he could perhaps fill again with Trump elected for the second time. But Woody Johnson made the decision to move on from Saleh on Oct. 8 and name defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim head coach.
Douglas, who was left out of the process, declined to say whether he agreed with the decision to fire Saleh.
“Not going to get into any of the details or the conversations that happened before or after that,” Douglas said. “Woody and I talk every day, but at the end of the day — and I think (former U.S. Secretary of State) Colin Powell said it in a different arena — but I serve at the pleasure of the owner.
“So my single goal is to help this team get to the goal of a championship.”
Since Saleh's firing, Douglas has traded for wide receiver Davante Adams and reunited him with friend and former Green Bay teammate Rodgers, gotten edge rusher Haason Reddick on the field after a prolonged contract holdout and dealt wide receiver Mike Williams — a failed free agent signing from this past offseason — to Pittsburgh before the NFL's trade deadline Tuesday.
The Jets, coming off a 21-13 win over Houston last week that snapped a five-game skid, are heading to Arizona to play the Cardinals on Sunday.
“I think Brick (Ulbrich) had a great message to the team on Monday,” Douglas said. "Just saying like: ‘Look, guys, none of this started the way we wanted to start it, but we still have everything in front of us. Every goal we wanted to accomplish, it’s still out in front of us.
“'And it starts with a tough opponent in Arizona this weekend.'”
Douglas wouldn't say whether he and Johnson have spoken about his future, reiterating the two speak daily and are focused only on the next game.
But the GM acknowledged the past month has been a roller coaster for him and the rest of the franchise.
“Yeah, I mean a lot of ups and downs, obviously, a five-game losing streak is tough, losing Robert is tough," Douglas said. “But I think there is a lot of resilience in this building and I think you guys saw it in the second half of Thursday night and I'm hoping it really propels us moving forward.”
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