It’s the first year that Robert Saleh is the head coach of the Jets, but the team is in a familiar position after 10 games.
At 2-8, the Jets are on track to miss the playoffs for the 11th straight year and finish with a losing record for the sixth straight year. Given that history, patience from the team’s fans for signs of progress is short but head coach Robert Saleh still asked for it at a Monday press conference.
Saleh said that he and General Manager Joe Douglas are aligned on “a really, really concise plan on how to build from the ground up” and that he feels that’s a departure from past Jets teams that tried to flip things around overnight.
“I respect the heck out of the urgency from the fans and the wanting to flip this thing, but in fairness, this is the first time this fan base is actually experiencing something like this,” Saleh said. “Usually it’s been a quick fix, followed by a scramble. This is an actual plan.”
Saleh cited the Cardinals going from having the first overall pick in 2019 to their current spot atop the NFC playoff picture as an example of how a plan can pay off. Signs of growth over the final seven games will make those kinds of comparisons an easier sell for a team that has spent years buried in the basement of the AFC East.