'Gotta win football games' - or else: Robert Saleh and NY Jets embracing their reality

ORLANDO, Fla. - In terms of hype for the New York Jets, one year after they spent months as the team everyone wanted to talk about, Robert Saleh welcomes the relative quietness in which the franchise is basking right now.

The calm is relative, of course, and the Jets' head coach readily admits there is pressure that comes with the job entering this season and having a 40-year-old four-time NFL MVP quarterback who seemingly creates a ripple in the league's media-sphere with just about everything he does.

There is only one way for the Jets to answer their critics, meet expectations and, quite frankly, prevent yet another overhaul of the front office and coaching staff following a 2023 season that essentially ended four offensive plays in when Aaron Rodgers tumbled to the MetLife Stadium turf with a devastating Achilles injury nearly seven months ago.

"When you lose, you’re a loser," Saleh said at the NFL Annual Meeting on Monday morning. "I suck. Joe D [general manager Joe Douglas] sucks. We all suck. It goes with the territory. The best thing we can do is put our heads down and we’ve got to go to work. All the feel-good stuff of the offseason doesn’t matter. Gotta win football games, and when you win football games, all the narratives will change."

For Saleh, who admitted in an interview with NFL Network on Sunday that, "last year was a little loud," the stakes are certainly higher than they have been in his previous three seasons as head coach.

The Jets opted to run it back with Saleh and Douglas despite three consecutive losing seasons that extended the franchise's playoff drought to 14 years dating back to the Rex Ryan era. That is the longest such streak for any team in America's four major professional sports leagues.

Rodgers will attempt to return from a torn Achilles. His debut season brought over-the-top promise last offseason, Super Bowl talk and unparalleled optimism before everything came crashing down on opening night. Saleh said he anticipates Rodgers being ready to participate in the Jets' offseason program, which begins April 15.

"Expecting him to be available for spring," he said. "OTAs has become a 7-on-7 camp so he should be able to do all that stuff. As we get closer, which we are here in the next couple of weeks, we’ll communicate more with him."

The Jets have had a busy last two weeks, rebuilding their starting offensive line by signing Tyron Smith and John Simpson in free agency and acquiring Morgan Moses via trade. They also signed Mike Williams at wide receiver, adding a complement to star Garrett Wilson, but, like with Smith and Moses, Williams' injury history and availability calls into question the fragility of the Jets' biggest upgrades.

Jets owner Woody Johnson said last month at NFL Honors that he was angry with the team's disappointing 7-10 finish, adding: "It’s not a playoff mandate, but we have to do a lot better than seven (wins).”

"Woody provides a lot of good insight, he really does," Saleh said. "Regardless of what the tone may or may not be, the important thing is the message and he’s delivered a lot of really thoughtful and good messages that have helped us progress, especially this offseason, and will help us during the season. His words are always welcome – he’s the owner of the football team, and his frustrations are shared with everyone."

Saleh was asked Monday if he had any regrets with how the Jets leaned into Super Bowl expectations last year.

"There’s no hiding from it," Saleh said. "You trade for a guy like Aaron Rodgers, I feel like it would have sounded silly of me, silly of any of us to try and hide from it. The reality is winning offseasons doesn’t matter. You got to win football games. No matter how much excitement there is around the organization, no matter how much excitement there is around free agency or the draft, none of it matters. Got to keep our heads down and find ways to get better, continue to have a great offseason and when we get to the season we got to find a way to put wins in the win column."

Rodgers' presence itself continues to create distractions that he himself said the Jets needed to eliminate to move forward. From his weekly appearances on "The Pat McAfee Show" during the season to recent speculation that he was in consideration to be potential independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate as vice president, Rodgers has managed to keep the Jets in the news, just not the way they envisioned.

"Distractions will be eliminated with winning," said Saleh, brushing off a question as to whether he had to talk to Rodgers or anyone else about a possible venture into politics. "When we win football games, the distractions will go away."

And Saleh seemingly understands the reality of what could happen for the Jets if they don't.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Jets at NFL Annual Meeting: Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers and more