Jets owner Woody Johnson covered a lot of ground on Tuesday.
Johnson talked about the team’s pending quarterback competition and hit a note of understatement when it came to Tim Tebow’s tenure with the team. He also asked for patience from fans as the team works to build itself back into a contender under new General Manager John Idzik.
Johnson also promised that the work that goes on in building such a contender will remain a secret to anyone but the people involved in the discussions. The last few years have seen plenty of damning reports about the Jets credited to sources within the organization, something Johnson says will stop under the new management.
“I think the buzz will be kind of a new feeling that John Idzik brings to the building,” Johnson said, via Don Banks of SI.com. “He’s very inclusive in the way he makes decisions. He’s a cultural guy. When we go in to make a decision, we want to encourage dissent. We encourage people to throw themselves on the table. But when we leave the room, we’re united. We’re not going to share any of those discussions, because they’re intimate to our family. Those we’re going to keep, but we’re going to be united when we leave. And that’s something we didn’t do as well perhaps.”
The Jets’ play and front office decision-making the last two years has done plenty to encourage bad press, but the endless stories about dissension in the ranks and fractured leadership have made things much more difficult. Cutting down on those stories won’t do much to improve the first two things, but it will make for a more placid working environment and that could lead to better results down the line.