LONDON — Jets coach Robert Saleh got a question Friday from a member of the British media about the team facing more pressure this year than others because of the higher expectations.
“Pressure? In New York?” Saleh said jokingly. “You can be an expansion team and still have the same amount of pressure. It doesn’t matter, you got to win, it’s New York.
“The expectation is to win. When you win, you are going to the Super Bowl. When you lose, fire everybody. That is the world we live in, that is the world we embrace. We attach each week as a new week, which every week comes with the extremist amount of pressure, but we are made for it, we are built for it.”
The Jets had a week of getting beaten up by fans and media after a terrible loss to the Broncos.
Saleh made reference to that with his “fire everybody” comment here.
It will be interesting to see if the Jets come out against the Vikings looking tight.
It certainly has been a tense week around the Jets.
The Broncos sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and hit him 14 times.
That looks like an offensive line problem.
But when Saleh was asked about protecting Rodgers, he brought up the team’s need to hit more explosive plays.
“We are always going to do our best to protect him,” Saleh said, “whether it is extra people in protection, running the football, getting the ball in and out of his hands as quickly as possible. But let’s be real, to win in this league, it is an explosive league, you got to be able to create explosives, and you got to pick and choose your battles,. But I think Aaron will be a lot better this week, and so will the O-line.”
The Jets have just two plays for more than 30 yards through the first four games.
They are one of five teams that do not have a passing play of more than 40 yards.
Saleh’s comment indicates that is something they have been talking about this week.
Though most of the attention this week has been on another Jets draft pick who is playing well for the Vikings, Blake Cashman leads Minnesota in tackles.
The 2019 fifth-round pick of the Jets has blossomed since the team traded him to the Texans in 2022.
Minnesota signed him as a free agent in the offseason, and Cashman is one of the leaders of a tough Vikings defense.
So, the Jets will see Sam Darnold leading the Vikings offense and Cashman on the defensive side.