Even when he inherited Sam Darnold, this is what Joe Douglas told us at his introductory press conference:
“It starts and stops with quarterbacks. It’s the most important position in all of professional sports.”
It is why he drafted Zach Wilson with the second overall pick of the 2021 draft, and it is why he had no choice but to pivot to Aaron Rodgers back in March.
And with Rodgers, the urgency and pressure for the Joe Douglas Jets to win and win now and win big has never been higher. Saddled with Adam Gase when he replaced Mike Maccagnan, Douglas’ record is 20-46 since taking over, 11-23 with Robert Saleh the past two seasons.
“You’re getting a general manager that is a relentless worker,” Douglas told us when he arrived in June 2019. “Someone that understands a winning culture. Someone that is going to strive to put a product on the field each Sunday that competes for greatness and that I hope will make you proud.”
It is time for the Joe Douglas Jets to compete for greatness.
It is time for the Joe Douglas Jets to make New York proud.
Win the damn division.
Get a playoff game at home.
Win now!
“You feel pressure to win every day you walk in here. I feel like we embrace that,” Douglas said Thursday.
It is much easier to embrace that pressure with Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback.
“He wants to go out there and do a lot of damage,” Douglas said.
Douglas and the Jets erred throwing Wilson, paired with a rookie offensive coordinator in Mike LaFleur, to the wolves. But Douglas rebounded with that grand slam 2022 NFL draft — Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, Breece Hall — that unknowingly laid the foundation that would appeal to Rodgers enough for him to forego retirement — and $35 million to give his GM flexibility to sign Dalvin Cook and potentially others down the road. Rodgers saw the light knowing his BFF Nathaniel Hackett would be his OC.
“He came here for a reason,” Douglas said. “We’re all doing this for a reason.”
No fewer than 54 reasons — since Broadway Joe Namath won the franchise’s only Super Bowl championship — and no fewer than 12 reasons — the length of the franchise’s playoff drought. With Rodgers as their pilot, the Joe Douglas Jets cannot afford to have it reach 55 and 13, respectively.
“Five, six times a day when I’m watching the film there’s some throws that are just unbelievable, unreal tight window throws,”Douglas said.
Saleh desperately craved the kind of unique leader that Rodgers has proven to be.
“When you bring a player like him in, it’s gonna raise the level of everybody,” Douglas said. “He can impart little nuggets, little pieces of wisdom to every single player and not just offense.”
Douglas gushes about the way Rodgers, 40 in December, has bonded with younger Jets, for example with special handshakes.
“He’s a very genuine, authentic person. He genuinely wants to build real relationships with people, not only teammates but everyone in the building,” Douglas said.
Douglas made a play for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. before he signed with the Bengals. The states of his offensive line has been a source of concern and anxiety for Jets fans given the questions surrounding right tackle Mekhi Becton, who has played one game in the past two seasons, and 38-year-old left tackle Duane Brown — on PUP (shoulder) most of training camp. Becton looked dominant in the exhibition finale against the Giants but has yet to play an entire game.
“I’m excited about this offensive line,” Douglas said. “We’re getting healthy at the right time. … It was good to see him look like Rookie Mekhi again.”
Douglas has been intent on building the trenches on both sides of the ball.
“This is a game of wills,” Douglas said when he arrived. “And we’re going to try to build a team that can impose its will on other teams.”
Saleh’s defensive line appears primed to fill that bill.
“We got a bunch of junkyard dogs, man,” Douglas said. “They play so hard. It’s a race to the ball, it’s a race to the quarterback.”
Douglas knows what a championship locker room looks and feels like from his days with the Ravens and Eagles.
“Great guys in those locker rooms,” he recalled. “Those are player-driven locker rooms.”
This one will be driven by a future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback.
“Every day you walk in the building you don’t want to let your teammates down,” Douglas said.
Dexter Lawrence was talking about the 2023 Giants when he said: “I don’t want to talk about building. It’s more about doing at this point.”
He may as well have been talking about the 2023 Joe Douglas Jets at the same time. No more “Hard Knocks” for the Joe Douglas Jets.
It’s Joe Time.