Thursday’s practice in Florham Park, N.J., was the official start of a new era, as the Jets practiced for the first time under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, following Robert Saleh’s dismissal earlier this week.
But as one might expect, Saleh’s firing was the biggest topic inside the Jets’ locker room on Thursday as the team looks to move forward, starting on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills.
Sauce Gardner, who has quickly become one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL under Saleh’s tutelage, was very honest and open with reporters on Thursday when it came to Saleh being let go.
“I was shocked. The reality is we’re 2-3 and everything is still in front of us,” Gardner said. “I was really shocked. Coach Saleh and me were extremely close from the day that the Jets first drafted me. To be honest, like, he changed my life. Where I come from and all the stuff that I’ve been through growing up in Detroit, and for him to be able to take a chance on me.
“For his birthday I text him and every year I always say ‘I appreciate you for taking a chance on me.’ He really changed my life, he changed my family’s life. That was always the goal for me in life, and he made that happen.”
Things just haven’t seemed to click for the Jets this season, as evidenced by their 2-3 record. But Gardner explained that a lot of the problems that have been holding the Jets back, such as costly penalties, are things that players must also be held accountable for.
“Like I said, I was shocked because the things that happened, like the penalties, or offense not doing good, defense not doing good, special teams not doing good-- from the outside looking in they’re going to say it’s his fault, but realistically, we are grown men that get paid millions of dollars,” Gardner said. “We should be able to be held accountable. We should be able to correct our mistakes that we make.
“It definitely threw me off. He was a great guy, great coach. He always helped me find ways to get better.”
And even with Ulbrich taking over the head coaching job for the remainder of the season, Gardner said the Jets locker room is still playing with Saleh in mind.
“I’m gonna be completely honest, like what we’ve been saying, we’re doing it for him, still,” Gardner said. “That’s just what it is. We’re still doing it for him. We know that everything that he did was out of the kindness of his heart, to help the team, to make the team better. Obviously, there was a change that was made to [Ulbrich], who I’m extremely close with and he’s a great leader. They’re kind of similar in that aspect.”
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who like Gardner was drafted in the first round of the 2022 draft and has blossomed into one of the best at his position around the league, voiced a similar sentiment regarding Saleh.
“It hurts,” Wilson said. “Obviously, he believes in me. He was part of the staff that brought me in here, probably a huge part of that. Just to have a coach who values my opinion and would sit down and talk to me like that and the conversations that we had, getting to know his family, and just knowing what it means to him, it hurts.
"I’m confident that his best days are ahead of him in this league.”