Colts owner Jim Irsay isn’t the only guy handing out October votes of confidence at the quarterly league meetings. Jets owner Woody Johnson has done the same.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Johnson said that changes won’t be coming for the 1-5 team. (Other than, you know, at quarterback.)
“We got 10 games to go,” Johnson said. “I’m very confident with [coach] Todd Bowles and [G.M.] Mike [Maccagnan],” Johnson said. “I really respect Todd, I know he’s doing what he’s going to do. It’s football. He’s a good coach. I have long-term confidence in him and in Mike and in their teams.”
That’s fine in October, but how will Woody Johnson feel in early January? Keenly aware of the entertainment component of the industry and the fickle nature of his customers, Johnson keeps a constant eye on the bottom line when it comes to football decisions. If the implosion continues, he may have to do something significant in order to appease fans.
Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time Johnson exercised one of the perks of being really rich and owning a football team: Changing his mind without accountability.
“I was told no matter what happens if we bring in Brett Favre, you’re absolutely safe,” former Jets coach Eric Mangini recently said regarding his discussions with Johnson in 2008. “I probably should have gotten that in writing.”
Bowles and Maccagnan now have it in writing, sort of. Not that it will keep Johnson from doing whatever he wants to do, when the time comes to possibly do it.