There is no other way to describe the New York Jets 2023 season other than the worst-case scenario. The Jets' hand-picked savior, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, tore his Achilles tendon four snaps into the 2023, which sent New York into a tailspin that crash-landed with a 7-10 record.
"We've got a lot to fix, and so this year we're gonna fix it," Jets owner Woody Johnson said Thursday on ESPN prior to the NFL Honors award ceremony. "We're going to get where we have to be. ... Disappointment doesn't nearly cover it. We work for the fans, and we want to do a good job for the fans. To see them disappointed like this the way we had everything going is very frustrating. Very difficult. Hard to take. ... These games are very hard to take."
Now, Johnson wants his head coach Robert Saleh, who was always coached the defensive side of the ball in all 19 of his seasons in the NFL (2005-2023), to focus on helping out offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett run the offense in 2024.
"He is going to be a lot better head coach," Johnson said of Saleh. "One thing about head coaches is you get better as you get more experience. He is going to concentrate on offense. He has [defensive coordinator] Jeff [Ulbrich] to do the defense. We have good special teams. It's offense, offense, offense. Get the quarterback moving. Get the line moving. Work on the run and do all that you have to do to win. You can't do one thing you have to do it all. It's not just one player."
The focus of their 2024 NFL Draft will likely be beefing up their offensive line to protect Rodgers since the Jets rotated through an NFL-most 13 starting offensive linemen, a number they need to see go down significantly in 2024 with better health and production at the position.
"We're doing a lot of different things organizationally to try to get better and make better decisions," Johnson said. "We have to fix our offense. I think we'll do that. Aaron Rodgers will be back. We'll protect him. We'll get the flow and get into it. Defense is pretty good. It would be better if our offense could do something. That's obvious."
The Jets ended up starting four different quarterbacks, including Rodgers' one start, in 2023. The other three were the team's second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Zach Wilson (11 starts), longtime Rodgers backup from Green Bay Tim Boyle (two starts) and journeyman Trevor Siemian (three starts).
"Just picture this: it's a nice stadium, and everyone has their wristbands on like Taylor Swift with the green and the white," Johnson said of Rodgers Jets' debut. "He [Rodgers] takes the American flag out, and four plays later, the elation goes down to zero," Johnson said. "It was unbelievable. I had never been through anything like that. We had to piece it together, but next year it should ready to start again. We're going to do it."
Before the season started, the plan was for Wilson to learn for a few years under Rodgers and then take over, like Jordan Love has done with the Packers. However, Wilson's performance over the last three years is a far cry from what Love did in 2023, when he threw the second-most touchdown passes in the regular season (32) and helped lead his team to a playoff victory.
Wilson's 57% completion percentage, 23-25 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 73.2 passer rating in the span of his NFL career since 2021 all rank dead last in the league among 38 qualified quarterbacks across the last three seasons. As a result of Wilson's poor play and the rotating door at the game's most important position, the Jets scored 18 offensive touchdowns on 2023, the fewest in the NFL. That total also ranks as the fewest since 2-14 Kansas City Chiefs' total of 17 in the 2012 season. The Chiefs then went into 2013 with the first overall draft pick and selected left tackle Eric Fisher.
