The Herd with Colin CowherdBREAKING NFL NEWS - The Jets have fired head coach Robert Saleh! Colin explains why this partnership was never going to work with Aaron Rodgers. He gives his top 10 NFL teams after week 5. Super Bowl champion Drew Brees joins the show to give his thoughts on the Jets dismissing Saleh and what he's seeing with the Cowboys offense.
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher on Fox Sports Radio.
All right, here we go.
What do you know?
Jets fired another coach live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be watching or listening, Thanks for making us part of your day. Well, Robert Saul has been fired. Reportedly he was blindsided. I don't know how you could be blind sided. Get blindsided if you get hit by a bus. You don't get blindsided if you get fired by the Jets, the Raiders, the Cleveland Browns, it's just you get hired to be fired. Now, if you're the Miami Heat, you know, then we would be blindside.
We got a knife in the back from Aaron Rodgers. I don't know if that's blindside or.
Well, give me seven or eight minutes to kind of sort through this. So Robert Solow this morning said he was blindsided fired by the Jets. So and we warned you if you go to London where Woody Johnson was the former ambassador to the UK, it's got all his bougie billionaire buddies in the stadium, ex Jet Sam Darnold beats you, something's gonna happen, and it did this morning. So in the moment for all you alphas out there, it feels good. Yeah, it's like going to the batting cage when you're in a bad mood. Take a few whacks. Somebody's got to pay for this. Congrats, you just fired the most competent coach on your staff. Nat Hackett is probably the worst OC in the league. He's still there because Aaron make sure he's there. So this will be the fifth head coach, head coach, interim coach in eleven years. Does it sound like a well run business? If you owned a company, you're on your fifth CEO in eleven years, would you be a well run company? For the record, if they beat the Bills on Monday Night Football, that terrible Robert Sala coach, they would have been in first place with way past his prime Aaron Rodgers. So ask yourself, what is easily the best part of the Jets, the defense, the part he coaches. Robert Sala didn't whiff on a quarterback in the left tackle in the first round, forcing the organization to hand all the power to Aaron Rodgers. Robert Sala didn't mishandle the Hassan Reddick mess again. I know it feels good, Jets. It felt good to beat the Patriots. It feels good to fire the coach. It always feels good for poorly run businesses to fire people and that will solve it. And go ahead, Colin. He didn't get along with Aaron Rodgers, Well we told you that a couple of weeks ago, and you push back on your go green Reddit boards when we told you they're not getting along. It's not rosy. So now suddenly you're an expert on the relationship between Robert Saal and Aaron Rodgers, and I don't think they get along. Well, I don't think Robert Sala a little bit too much ego. He just couldn't keep things to himself. Remember when he said this is an inexcused absence at the podium during Mini camp. Robert keep it to yourself. Remember when he said Aaron Rodgers will not play in the preseason. Aaron was mystified by that. Keep it to yourself. When he banged on Aaron Rodgers, the best cadence quarterback in the NFL, probably my entire life, Aaron fired back coach Vanity, keep it to yourself. We all know about offense, defense, special teams, the three phases of football. Here's the fourth. When you have an old, rich, prickly quarterback, monitor what you say at the podium. He wasn't very good at the podium. Belichick gets made fun of for saying on to Cincinnati. But Belichick and Brady never went to dinner in twenty years. But at the podium they co parented. They never embarrassed each other. They always were on the same message. Sala and Aaron weren't well colin. Aaron's difficult to get along with you, I know, ask Mike McCarthy. But that's the deal. You brought him in to save the franchise. Don't humiliate him, don't embarrass him. Yes, he can be sensitive. So the interim coach is jeff Aulbrick, who was the loud guy on Hard Knocks, former player Kyle Shanahan tried to hire one point kind of an alpha guy. He could win. I mean, interim coaches like substitute teachers. Everybody loves him. He could win. I wouldn't doubt it. But in the end, you're on your fifth coach, head coach or interim coach in eleven years. This is what you are as a franchise. If your company had the fifth CEO, would you think, oh, it is human here. And I understand firing coaches. Andy Reid got fired in Philadelphia sometimes, as pat Riley says, you need a new voice. This is a team that is good at one thing. The one thing, solid coaches, and they could be in first place by Monday night. Just think about that. This is not a team like what you're watching in Carolina. This is not a team that's hopeless. The roster's pretty good. Sala had his side playing well. I mean, can you imagine if Hassan Reddick would have been in the building, how good this defense would have been. It's already good now. And here's the other thing. You know, I've been talking about this for years is owners now are so rich. They didn't I mean used to be even ten years ago. They weren't all billionaires. A guy would have a seven eight hundred million dollar net worth. They would give a coach an extra year. But the owners now are all multi billionaires. So firing a coach, firing a firing a staff is a rounding air. They just don't care. But by Monday night, the Jets could be in first place. And so so I mean, if you want to know why Kansas City keeps winning, it's all that institutional knowledge and that momentum and that culture that they don't constantly disrupt. In their division, the Chargers had Anthony Lynn Brandon's daily Jim Harbather restarting the engine every couple of years. How many coaches have the Raiders had since Andy Reid got there? Broncos are on their second or third. So, like I am not a fan of blowing everything up. I always ask the question, if you're going to fire a coach. This is why I've kind of supported Matt Eberflus. Does the coach know, oh, his side of the ball. Sala is great with motivation and he's great with defense. So he's gone. And maybe the alpha, you know, the ex player, a tough guy. Maybe it works. He's got kind of a Dan Campbell Field to him. I got nothing against him, don't know him. Kyle Shannan's a smart guy, he likes him. It may work, but this will not be a job that everybody signs up for. There's gonna be potentially Trevor Lawrence is gonna need a coach, Maybe Dack will need a coach. Maybe Joe Burrow will need a coach. You're going to this mess. I'm gonna move my wife, my daughter's cross country to Woody Johnson. But again, hey, get your aluminum bat out, go to the batting cage. It feels good today. Get those wax in. You are a franchise am. I supposed to believe Woody Johnson didn't talk to Aaron Rodgers, really didn't give him a heads up. Really, I can't believe that because Woody Johnson in the offseason all he talked about we got to get the off right, Well, who runs the offense? Aaron Rodgers? You didn't get him a heads up? You didn't say, Aaron. I'm really disappointed. I mean, it's Tuesday, now, get over forty eight hours. Yeah, a lot of time. Aaron never got tipped on this. I mean, go ask Mike McCarthy. Once Aaron goes on you know, his darkness retreat, and I'm not talking about the official one in Oregon. When he turns dark, and we talk about this all the time, you're done as a coach. So I think over this past week, we showed it on the air, Aaron went dark during that game. He's doing the hand motion in Nat Hackett hurry up and get the plays, and he turned on the staff. So again, it makes you feel good to go to the batting cage, and it makes you feel good to pretend on your Reddit board that Aaron didn't have anything to do with it. Now you're what you're gonna do. It's gonna be like Lebron. They're gonna go out. Now, Aaron's gonna distance himself from this. This is what Lebron does. Totally distance yourself. I had no idea. And to remember, agents get in all the story breakers in this business. They get their news from agents, and so you know you're gonna find there's gonna be a lot of positioning on this story. It caught Aaron b total surprise. I had no idea. In his friends, we'll relay the message. I have a hard time believe in Woody Johnson fires Robert Salah, the most competent coach on his staff, the one guy who's graded his job and didn't tip Aaron at all. I was told Aaron and Solo were buddies. I mean, if they're buddies, you're gonna fire my best friend at Fox. You're not gonna call and say, yeah, something happened. I mean, I don't buy that. If if you're telling somebody they're valuable, and you know they're really close with the guy and the staff, you're not gonna tip him off. I mean, believe what you want to believe. Believe what you want to believe. But the fifth coach eleven years, you could be in first place by Monday night. All right, j Mack, you're a Jet fan. I uh now, I'm not gonna get in your way for a couple of minutes. You tell me what you feel right now.
Well, I don't know.
You just referenced Lebron James. When Lebron James runs off coaches.
Here's the difference. Lebron wins championships everywhere he goes.
Aaron Rodgers hasn't won anything in this league except an MVP Award. And a bunch of postseason losses since he won the Super Bowl way back.
Well, TikTok didn't even exist when Aaron Rodgers won a Super Bowl. That's how long it's been. Yet he should have all the power in New York.
Colin like, this isn't about Robert slom We know that, right, This isn't about Salad. They solidn't lose the game in London to the Vikings.
Aaron did.
Aaron Rodgers was awful, but he doesn't want any accountability, right, He's like, hey, hey, we lost.
He's a losing franchise, not my fault.
Hey. To Aaron's credit, he acknowledged he was terrible. That's what's the irony here. It would be one thing if Aaron was great in London and Saala's defense got shredited. No, no, no. Sala's defense was the first all year to completely flummex the Vikings offense. So Sala's defense without Hassan Reddick, who should be there, with Sauce Gardner getting hurt, with Quinn Williams at one point getting banged up, completely shut down Justin Jefferson, completely shut down the Minnesota Vikings, who'll probably drop forty five this week, and Aaron was terrible, and Hackett keeps his job and Sala gets fired.
Well, this is what happens. What's the same.
When you lay down with dogs, you get fleas. Woody Johnson was desperate for relevance. You know how the Browns were desperate. Hey, Deshaun Watson, we'll give you the fully guaranteed contract.
Come on down.
Hasn't worked out. Jets were desperate. Longest playoff drought in the NFL. Yeah, Aaron, please let me get on the private jet.
Aaron, please, we need you.
Remember last week I said the Mets are going into the playoffs. The Yankees are going to the playoffs. I said this last week. The Giants are not terrible, and the Knicks have their first championship level team in twenty years. And I said this last week in New York it's a battle for the back page. So the Mets are I mean, the way they win, you can't take your eyes off them. The Yankees are disappointing you, but they're the number one brand in town. Here comes the next season and say what you want about the Giants is big Blue has all the trophies in that town. They have a lot of fans. They play in the same stadium, and that went in Seattle. People are like, all right, they're getting all fired up. This is also about crazy Woody, impulsive Woody, not getting attention because they lose Monday Night. The Jets once again have a great defense and embarrassing offense.
Remember how we talked about Aaron Rodgers wanting to copy Tom Brady. Tom Brady leaves to go to Tampa and you know, has some beef with Arians and ends up winning the Super Bowl. Brought his guys, Hey Grunk, come out of retirement, Antonio Brown, come live in my house.
It all worked out for Brady.
Rogers tried to do the same thing. Hey not Hackett, come.
On with me.
We'll build something in New York. Heylizard, Randall Cobb. Remember that experiment. It's all been a disaster.
I listen, I don't want to be too harsh here on Rogers, But at this stage in his career, is he a loser? He hasn't won games, he hasn't won anything since those MVP awards.
He's losing left and right with.
Coaches with well there, MVP awards are very big in baseball. Nobody cares in the NFL, nobody cares. It's all about winning on Sunday. This is not a league that romanticizes itself. Think about this. You can't listen to a baseball discussion in New York. Somebody will call a show and bring up Mickey Mannle. When's the last time you listen to sports radio in America and somebody brought up Hugh mckelhaney, the running bag. We don't even bring up Barry Sanders. So baseball, it's history, its lore is very much about the rear view mirror. Football's the windshield. What have you done? Sunday? So ask what has Robert solid done as of this moment, arguably the best defense in the league shut down Minnesota, best coach on the staff, and he's out. And again, it feels good when your team sucks. You can't fire the players, so it feels good for a fan. It's that whole thing. I got to release all this anger intention. Everybody in New York wfan today will be yeah, yet you just lost the best coach on your staff. Now, is he a great head coach? Certainly that's debatable. I think there was too much vanity. I mean, he's a great looking guy. He's got good energy. It's kind of cool. It's New York. He probably walks into restaurants in New York, and you know, he's a great looking guy. I get it, and I thought he's he was really very weak at the podium. Again, if he said this stuff in I mean, if he said this stuff in Carolina or Seattle, it just wouldn't make it wouldn't make the news. But if Aaron Rodgers calls you out in Green Bay, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, big brands, big cities, that's a whole different ballgame. So that's why when the Jets hire these young coaches, Adam Gaze, who was peculiar, or Robert Sala, you got the vanity and kind of the alpha stuff, there is something to be said. I mean, Sean mcvay's great at this, the master of talking and not saying a ton. Derek Jeter the master. Eli Manning the master, I mean literally, Eli Manning and Derek Jeter are the best I've ever seen. They talk a lot and never say anything. In New York. They never throw a teammate under the bus. We know Jeter and Arod had their issues, never ever a problem. Belichick Brady didn't get along, didn't go to dinner. In twenty years, they never threw each under the bus. The messaging was always the same. I always had this theory about Brady. He did this Monday morning Am radio hit in Boston. Obviously he didn't need the money. It was Brady starting the messaging with Belichick for the week. Here's the message for the week. What Brady did that? Big Ben did this for years in Pittsburgh. Where he would you start the message for the week. So Brady sometimes was furious with Belichick. He wasn't being respected. We saw that at the very end of the documentary. But the messaging was good. Saw and Era's messaging was terrible. It was terrible. It's the guys sit down for ten minutes every Tuesday and Thursday and talk and say where are we on the stand and just call it the same page, have a little thing, bring a pr guy in. What's the same page? You say this, I'll say that takes ten minutes. That was part of his undoing.
Michael Irvin yesterday nailed it when he said I didn't understand how the quarterback and the coach were going up to hug after that Big moment and Rogers was like settle down, like keeping at arms length. The way Irvin talked about that we should have seen this was coming up.
Well when that happened, remember that video we probably have in the back. When that video happened. I defended Aaron on this. I said, dude, it's the second quarter, chill out and that like the podium stuff with sala Is. The thing I think you can criticize sala On is that he was sometimes he was more like buddy than coach. That's the one thing I will defen Aon on at at the podium. Dude, you're the grown up in the room. Do not throw Aaron under a bus. He's prickly, that's who he is. And we've all you know, listened if if you take over a company and you've got a student or you got an employee, that's a little prickly, but they're important. You just have to know that going in, Salak new going in, Aaron had a history. I'm not going to blame Aaron for that. Aaron is being authentic to who Aaron is. Go read the book by Ian O'Connor. This is who Aaron is and he now runs the franchise. He's a quarterback and the best player on your team or one of the top four or five. You got to do it better. So Sala, That's where Sola, to me, gets criticism. It's not on the coaching, That's not what it is. It's really on his inability as a young, good looking guy with a lot of testosterone to sometimes take one for the team, act like a grown up. That I think it's fair to criticize him. But can he coach? Kyle Shanahan loved him, Okay, that that defense is for real. Nobody slows down the Vikings and they shut him down with Sauce Gardner on the pine, So don't tell me he can't coach.
Yeah, he'll be a defensive coordinator somewhere in this tomorrow probably tomorrow.
Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app heard Hierarchy. Now go the top ten NFL teams, according to.
Colin may be my weakest number ten team ever, the Dallas Cowboys. They're three and zero on the road. Pittsburgh handed him the game. But you know what, they're doing it without Micah and DeMarcus Lawrence. And you know I've said this before. I watched Kirk Cousins on Thursday night and Dak Prescott, you know, on Sunday night. You know, you can never tell his mood. Dak hadn't played well, Ceedee Lamb disappeared, and Dak figures out a way to win. So there's a lot of things I don't like. I don't think they're close to a super Bowl team, but they have a winning record. That's something. And they're three and zero on the road, and that's something. And I do think McCarthy and Dack get along. That wasn't the case with the Jets. That's why they made a coaching move. So I'll put him at ten, number nine, and now I proudly put the Falcons at nine. I like this team. They've won three of their last four, only lost comes to the Chiefs. All three have come with Kirk Cousins in game winning drives. I already thought he was a great fit. I have no problem Penics being on the bench. I like their O line, their run game. Raheem Morris is an offensive, friendly defensive coach who I think grew with Sean McVay. I like this team. I picked him to win the AFC South. I picked him to be a potential number one seed in the NFC and win twelve games. They are what I thought they were, number nine, number eight, the Bills, you know the minute I like him. I mean they have lost to the Ravens and Texans after the Chiefs. Those could be the two best teams. Maybe in the AFC. They're losing to the right teams, but they've been held under three hundred yards three of the last four games. I don't want to hear about excuses that you were missing a slot receiver from Boise State. Kansas City won last night over four hundred yards, missing all sorts of people and making Juju Smith Schuster Jerry Rice. I don't want to hear about it. This team is inconsistent. I don't like their game management. They're a little banged up, and they're losing a good team, so I'll still put them at number eight, number seven. The Texans beat him. Only lost this year came on the road against the Vikings, so they're four and one. I think they're a bit immature and young. They lead the NFL in penalties I think they have the potential to beat themselves in a big game. I think that Joe mixon injury hurt c J. Stroud. I mean, look at Caleb Williams. Now the Bears can run the ball a little bit. He looked pretty good, doesn't he. I think c J. Stroud is excellent, one of the guys in the league I like to watch. But I do think Joe Mixon's absence. I mean, by the way, there's a reason the Bengals defense is bad. Part of it is ball control. They have to score through the air. They score quickly. Joe Mixon's been underrated. I like the Texans. I'll put him at seven, number six. I may have the a little low at six. They could be better, but after that ugly pick six against the Rams, Jordan Love at one hundred and forty passer rating. The defense leads the NFL with forty five big plays. We love their tight end wide receiver grouping. That craft kid is something else. They also lead the NFL in takeaways. That's rare for the Packers. So they make big plays on both sides of the ball. Again, I think they're probably better than six. They just I'm getting hams I'm getting quarters, I love them instead of a full game. But let's put him at six.
Number five.
I don't think the Commanders are a fluke. I said I thought they'd make the playoffs going into the season, and I think basically what we said with Jayden Daniels, we said he was going to be Lamar Jackson light. I just didn't think he would be Lamar Jackson light in September and October of his rookie year. I think he's for real. I think he's coachable. You know when a coach and a coordinator are singing publicly a quarterback's praises in camp, what a coach is always saying camp with a rookie, he's coming along. Let's lower expectations. Long way to go now. They were like, who, this kid's magic, This kid's unbelievable. I like their front office, I like their coordinator and their coach. NFL they're leading the NFL in points per drive. That's a Vegas stat. I got Washington at five.
Number four.
The Lions now are so consistent, they're kind of boring. They're gonna buy their three and one best offensive line in the sport, very well balanced. Number seven passing. Number six rushing, I think they should rush the ball more. In my opinion, I think that when they're at their best, Jamison Williams is becoming a scary deep threat. That matters. You can't cheat on that run game. You got to keep your safeties back now and you so they can run the ball and eat the clock and go deep. Hutchison has become TJ. Watt level dominant on the edge. I have the line the boring Lions at four, number three. The Ravens, I love them. I love Lamar, huge energy. I don't think they're necessarily built to beat the Chiefs. I think they're built to beat everybody else in the league not called the Chiefs. Number one rushing offense, and I say to your I say, wow, they can just keep the ball away from Mahomes. Yeah, whatever, it doesn't matter. Give him thirteen seconds. I'll win. I love Derek Henry. I think the Cowboys should have grabbed him. The Ravens the smarter franchise. Did Lamar in the red zone against the Bengals. I know it's the Bengals, but this is funny. Six for six, four touchdown passes. Oh I forgot. He doesn't win in the playoffs. You guys can keep taking that side. I'll take the side and Lamar Jackson's good. We'll see who wins that argument. Number Two, the Vikings. I mean, listen, they're beating good teams. The last four wins are the Niners, the Texans, the Packers, and the Jets. They lead the NFL in point differential. Their rush defense is fantastic. Some of the reason the Jets aren't running. They couldn't run this Brian Flores, I know he's got a lawsuit with the NFL. That dude can coach. That dude can flat coach. That's the best coaching staff to me outside of Cana. The city in the league, Spags and Reid is what's happening in Minnesota. Number one Kansas City. Literally last night on Monday night football was showing off. They did a Warriors with Katie and Stephan, Clay and Draymond. They were screwing around and showing off. And I mean Juju Smith Schuster's career over, Oh wait, Kareem Hunt out of the league career over, oh wait. Everybody else's circumstantial. The Chiefs, I don't want to hear about Joe Burrow's defense and Josh Allen missing the receiver. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to hear about what Lamar's got. Three new offensive linemen, Isaiah Poteco's gone, Rashee Rice is gone. They're bringing guys off the beach and getting four hundred yards flukey interception, missing kicks doesn't matter. They've separated. This was weekend of Separation, Kansas City separated from the world.
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Yeah, the thing about watching Mahomes last night and Michael Jordan did this that he started diminishing other great players like Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. They are like great players, but you're like, eh, good players, But because you know they didn't have any trophies and Michael was six for six, you start diminishing other players. Like I love Lamar Jackson, but you compare him to Mahomes and it's like, yeah, but he doesn't win in January or February. And you look at Josh Allen, You're like unbelievable, but you're like, yeah, kind of inconsistent, a little bit reckless. Has to run through offensive coordinators when you really get great, like Mahomes or Michael Jordan. And that's where the comps when people talk about it, they are that is that Tiger Woods was so great you question if anybody else could really play. I mean, he was the best golfer, the best putter, the best driver, the best clutch player. It was like Jordan. And that's what Mahomes is. He's the most talented, moves effortlessly, has the deep ball, unbelievable in clutch crisis situations. He does everything so well. Start you start comparing him to the other unbelievable quarterbacks and they feel small. Anywhile Joe Burrow doesn't have a defense, Mahomes got to an AFC Championship his first year as a starter, and Kansas City's defense was ranked thirty first. He doesn't need a great defense. He got to a Super Bowl last two years with one of the worst receiving cores in the league. So whenever right here, well he's also the Chiefs have led the NFL in drops the last two years. All I hear is excuse well, our guys dropped the ball. We don't have this guy, we don't have a great defense. Mom's like, yeah, whatevs. And that was Jordan. I mean for years it was like Pippen wasn't a great offensive player. He was a slasher. When you went to Portland and they needed him to score, he's not really, and it's like never had a great big Cartwright was old. He had a bunch of Kurz and Packson's but it was like Ron Harper had been here, now he's there. Rodman was goofy but talented. Like you start looking at it, I mean, the only thing he really needed was Phil Jackson and Michael and they just kind of figured it out. And man, Pippin was valuable. I'm not saying that in Travis Kelsey matters Andy Reid, I'm not saying it, but you start comparing Jordan Tiger. I know I felt this with Tiger. I'm like, you know, usually it used to be one guy's great off the tee, Brooks Koepka, you know, Scottie Scheffler, he gotta give you the pots or the iron game, and then all of a sudden, Tiger was like everything. I mean, it was just Mahomes is just something else. I mean, before that game last night, Derek Carr was the number one highest gradded passer recording the PFF. You put him on the same field juxtaposed to Mahomes, and what does it look like. It's like a startling difference, right, And Derek Car's been around for a long time. He'll end up top twenty in passing yards. Drew Brees gonna be a Hall of Famer in a couple of years, twenty years, Super Bowl, thirteen Pro Bowls. So let me ask you about this. I'm not a fan of firing, and I think I like continuity in my life. I ate the same breakfast. I'm a habit guy. So every time fans always want to go and fire the coach, and I'm like, okay, well what about the symmetry with a quarterback? So you had Sean Payton, you guys literally on the same wavelength. And I always think it's such an advantage. I mean, justin Herbert's now on a new head coach and a new coordinator and a new offensive line coach. How big of a deal was continuity in your division? And for you it was at worth two to three wins a year drew.
Yeah, continuity is extremely important.
And look, just about every head coach in the NFL came from one side of the ball or the other.
Right.
They were either a defensive you know minded coach who came up through the ranks as a defensive position coach and then probably became a defensive coordinator before they became a head coach. Or conversely, offensively, they were you know, an O line coach or a quarterback coach, became an offensive coordinator and then.
Became a head coach.
So they skew towards one side of the ball, right, and they still have heavy involvement on that side of the ball.
Right.
Very few times do you just have a head coach who is just.
A you know, call it a CEO, right where they don't really have a lot of involvement with offense or defense. They really just helped manage the coaching staff the team.
They helped create culture.
You know, they make key decisions when they need to be made, but they just allow.
Their coaches to coach. Right.
Obviously, the background line, I came from the New Orleans Sean Payton an offensive coach.
He was our play caller, right, A lot of kind of the way that everything was skewed on.
Our team was very much offense, right. We didn't have a lot of turnover on the offensive side. We had a lot of turnover on the defensive side. From the perspective of coaches and coordinators through through the years. Look, I look at this situation in with the Jets, and obviously Robert sala is a defensive coach, right, came over after having a ton of success with the San Francisco forty nine ers as the defensive coordinator. He came over to the Jets, and the obvious problem that they were looking to solve was their quarterback position. Right ever since he got there. Yeah, right, they have Zach Wilson. Unfortunately that didn't work out. They go out and get Aaron Rodgers and and you know, all of a sudden, you feel like, Okay, now we've we've we've kind of you know, answered the problem here, right, Robert sala is going to take care of the defensive side. Aaron Rodgers comes in with a ton of experience and a resume to help handle the offensive side with you know, a longtime coach who he had a rapport with, Nathaniel Hackett. And you know, hey, both sides are taken care of. It's it's shocking to me that you would basically take what has been kind of a relationship that's only lasted for really six games, right right, Like I don't even count last I don't even count last year because Aaron missed the entire year last year, sure, right.
With the exception of a few plays.
So it's like you didn't even really allow this experiment to take place, right to like fully kind of vet itself out. All I know is this, I would have loved to been a fly on the wall on that plane ride back from London. Man, let's get some tequila sodas going up there in first class, and let's get Woody Johnson, let's get solid, let's get Aaron Rodgers, and let's all just kind of get together and let's powwow this thing.
Man, Let's see what's going on here. Let's see how we can figure this thing out.
I mean, I don't know what the heck happened on that plane ride, but obviously it wasn't good.
I mean I look at their team, and look, their defense has played well. Yes, their defense is a.
Top top ten defense, certainly top third of the league. Their offense has been the bottom third. I mean that's just the facts, right. So now, look, you know I watched the game the other day. I got up early on Sunday with my middle son. He wanted to see the game.
Man.
So we're up here six thirty on the West Coast watching the game together. Yeah, and the things that stood out to me were men, Aaron was under duress, right, I mean he was. He was having to get the ball out of his hands a lot sooner than he probably wanted to. He was getting hit a lot. Look as he lost some mobility. Yeah, you know, he's not able to avoid some of those the way that I think we're used to seeing, right, I mean he can still throw the ball. Is he still developing a rapport with some of those receivers.
Yeah?
Probably. But at the end of the day, as you're looking at their team, like from the outside, I didn't see a dysfunctional team. I mean I saw a team that man, They've battled to the end, like they battled one of the better teams in the NFL.
Really should have won that game. They had a chance, right, I.
Mean they're driving at the end of the game to win that to win it, and you know, Aaron throws the pick. You know, but like you know what, it's a bit baffling to me, as I'm sure it is to you and a lot of others.
Yeah, you know, I said, I like Saulai. I defended him on the air today and I said, you know, fans in New York especially, it's like the example I used, It's like going to the batting cage when you want to vent and you just you take the bat. You go to the batting cage, you work up a sweat, you're ticked off at something in your life, or you won't go hit golf balls. Hey, you feel better after an hour, like you were all worked up, and so let's fire the coach. Everybody's mad to fire the coach. It might take is he's probably the best coach on the staff because a defense to your point wasn't a problem. Here's the one thing I would criticize him. Listen, every person out, you and Sean Payton could argue in the next night, go out, have a beer. Brady and Belichick weren't buddies, but they almost co parented. They never ever throw the other under a bus. For twenty years at that podium. Ever, you and Breeze, I mean simpatico, those are special reading mahomes can bark at each other, they love each other. Sala You know a young coach in New York Drew. He'd go out there and say, Aaron's not playing in the preseason. Aaron would go in the next day and go, yeah, nobody told me about that. It's like, coach, you got to keep that to yourself. Or he said, yeah, the Cadence thing was a problem. Well, hell, Aaron's pretty good at the Carrett Caadence thing. I'd probably keep that to yourself. I don't think Robert was great at the podium. I thought a lot of times it's the New York media. Drew just just don't I thought sometimes he said stuff and Aaron's history is he's going to defend himself. Is that a fair criticism? Or should Aaron when he gets asked uff just eat it, not feed into it. But I kind of thought Salah didn't restrain himself at the podium and set himself up to tick Aaron off. Or am I overstating that?
Well, look, I think I think your point, your points well taken. There's probably some things that that Salah said publicly that we were better just to be kept you know, private, and then there were probably reactions from Aaron that he probably should have just eaten and said, you know, hey, I'm going to go, you know, face to face with the head coach and work out whatever it is, right, I mean, bottom line is they need to be on the same page. I would always take the approach as a player that if the coach said something that even if I didn't agree with, I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not going to disagree with him.
I'm not going to play that out in the media.
I'm going to go talk to him one on one, you know, man and man player coach and come up with a solution and then you know, come up with the strategy as to how you you know, address the media about it.
Right, But there was just things that they should have stayed in house that maybe didn't you know that.
That whole debacle around mini camp and Aaron misses many can't where is he? It was it was agreed to and then it wasn't agreed to and next thing, you know, errands at.
The Pyramids and the team's.
Practicing, you know, like like like what the heck's going on, right, couldn't you guys have just talked about it and gotten on the same page. Yeah, I mean it doesn't seem that complicated, right, Yeah, but you know drama.
Drama seems to follow certain people.
You're being kind, Uh, yeah, it does. So there was a situation this week. And I don't like criticizing play calling. I've stayed out of it for years. I don't know your injuries. I don't know your game plan. Stuff happens on the sideline. Guys are hurt, they can't go in certain packages work, and then all of a sudden there's an injury. They don't work. But what Buffalo did three straight passes against Houston? So Josh may have been concussed. He wasn't having a good day. You're deep in your territory. Just run the ball, eat make Texans call timeouts, eat the clock and get those time man. I didn't love that, and so I don't think anybody did. But here's my question, Josh has earned the right like you and your career at some point Shawn time out. Did you ever and you had one of the great play callers, but did you ever override Sean? Were you allowed to do that if you just like Sean, I don't like it. I don't like it because I kind of put a little bit on Josh Allen to say, Josh, you're around, you get this league, you got twenty second you have twenty thirty seconds burn. It is it on Josh or all the entire staff.
No, it's Look.
As I was watching the game in that moment, I was thinking to myself, look, it kind of had a rough day, you know, offensively, Josh has had a rough day. I think this is one of those deals where you just run it three times and play for overtime. Right, Just generally speaking, if you have an elite quarterback, there's a chance, right, and especially the way that the pass interference rules are. I mean, you launch one down the field, you get a forty yard pi, a fifty yard pi, like all of a sudden, you're you have a game winning opportunity, right, So a lot can happen there, And are the odds in your favor?
Probably not, you know, the odds are not in your favor.
And yet with an elite quarterback, you feel like you can do certain things, make certain decisions, take certain chances that you otherwise wouldn't if you had a rookie quarterback or somebody else.
Right now, As far as the.
Times where like Sean and I, yeah, there's plenty of times where I come to the sideline Sean and be like, what do you think? Or hey, this is what I want to do, and I say, ah, don't like it, you know, and we talk it out and we and we come up with a plan. We go execute it, right, So, yeah, there was there was conversation, there was collaboration. There was like, let's with the plan. Once we come with the plan, we're rolling. And there were times where Sean's like, now I want to do.
It, all right, coach, I'll execute it. You know, that's my job.
Yeah, that moment was Look, had they lost one fifty yards and completed it or got a PI and all of a sudden got in a fielder rangeing fifty game winner, We're all sitting here going, oh mcdermot's a genius is amazing, right, Yeah, but unfortunately didn't work out in their favorite Yeah.
Yeah, you know, I was thinking about this. I always say Dak and Kirk cousins remind me of each other, very high eques. I can watch Aaron Rodgers, and I can tell if I didn't watch the game, if he's playing well or not. Jay Cutler has this, I can just look at him and go, Aaron's pissed. This is a bad afternoon. Kirk Cousins and Dak, I have no idea that didn't play well. They were struggling in the red zone. But there is something about Dak and Kirk Cousins. Dak's like, let's go. He has a a very short memory, and I just think we don't understand the intensity of all you guys. You are one of the more intense guys Sean, maybe more intense than you. And there are times you have a pick six or a bad moment. You got to get over it. And I think it's one of Dak's great strengths. Tell me how hard it is you are hyper competitive to just go all right, didn't happen. I'm gonna forget about it. Is that hard because Dak and Kirk, I think, are so good at that.
Look, it's one of the hardest things to be able to manage and also just to learn in playing the quarterback position.
Is that short term memory.
And I'll be honest, that comes with both the good and the bad, right, Like, hey, man, if things are good, yeah, it's great.
If you just feel like you got.
The momentum and man, you're just feeling and it's flowing, and you got the rhythm and this and that.
And yet at the same time, you don't want to get.
Overly aggressive, right and think you're invincible out there, because you're not. At the same time, you start the game off a bit rough, make some bad decisions, make some bad throws. It's very easy to kind of lose confidence and then not want to turn the ball loose when you should.
You got to get over it very quickly, I think at the end of the.
Day, and this is what I was always told, is that you can't you can't win the game in the first half, but you can lose the game in the first half from the perspective of like, man, really like making some bad decisions and getting your team down and whatever. At the same time, all you ask and all you hope for is that you will have a chance to win the game in the end. And I think we recognize that seventy five percent of these games in the NFL go down to the final possession, yep, Right, And so all you're wanting is just that opportunity. And that's where the elite quarterbacks separate themselves. Is when you're within that last five minutes of the game, you understand what wins and loses, You understand what can and cannot happen.
You understand how.
To position your team to be the one at the end with the ball that's going in to win the game. Right, Like it's the recognition when you're playing against another elite quarterback on how to make sure that they that you're the last one with the ball and not them, right. And that's both at the end of half and end of game. Right, So this situational football will call it. You've got to be a problem solver. You have to be a master of probabilities, like all these things that separate the elite quarterbacks from just kind of the middle of the pack guys.
And look, I've.
There's you know a lot of people you will say, you know that that Dak or even Kirk Cousins haven't quite you know, elevated themselves into those levels of some of the others because of you know, some things that have happened in the playoffs. I think those guys consistently are playing at high levels. I when I watch games, I can see that those guys know what wins and loses games, right.
And.
I think that they they at the at the end of these games, are finding ways to win.
Right.
Kirk Cousins has had a couple of these these you know, these moments this season already, I think three comeback victories Dack the other night. Again, man, not quite going the way you want, hostile environment, Steelers defense, you know all this stuff, and man, we find a way. I mean, he's got to complete a fourth out pass to win the game, right.
I mean, so did you get the job done? Or did you not? He did it? So, Man, these moments do nothing but build confidence.
By the way, do you see Bo Nixon Garrett Champagne bark at each other? Did you laugh? But you called it by the way you called it?
Yeah? I did.
I had to chuck a little bit because, especially after our conversation from two weeks ago, you know where you know Sean Sean likes that, man.
I mean, he's Bo Diggs got it. You know.
He yells at him here and starts to walk away, and Seaw was like, wait a minute, you get back here.
You know, we're not done. We're not done with this conversation. I think it was It's funny.
I think the argument was, Man Sean was so particular about Man, We're like, hey, we're running this on the right hash into the formation into boundary, like this is very exact because of how.
We want the alignment or we want to create the leverage and we want.
To create the matchup, so everything is very exact, right, And so I think that was this moment where I think Sean felt like he had, you know, flipped the formation the wrong way, put it into the boundary when he wasn't supposed to. And I'm sure Bo was like, no, Coach, I know exactly what you said.
This is how we're going to run it. You know, Sean loves that.
I'm telling you that that's the old Parcels thing. Man Parcels wanted you bark back at him. That's what Sean used to always say. Then be passionate, you know, be sure about what you're what you're talking about.
Yeah, it's funny. Even the coach on the sideline defends Bonnix. If you watch, and he got bone wort up, he got the assistant worked up. They're both all barking at Sean. But you know what, it's that authenticity that is a big part of Sean Peyton. It's you're all in, we're all together. This stuff can be. I've seen Andy Reid and Mahomes bark. Bottom line is Kobe and Phil Bart folks, it's sports, it's live, get it out, don't suppress it. I loved it. I thought of you when I saw that. I thought, Okay, we got to ask Drew about that. You're so good on our show, buddy, I appreciate it. You're eligible for the Hall of Fame in twenty twenty six. Don't have to think much about that. It'll be great. We'll talk soon, Drew. Thank you.
