Robert Saleh firing: Aaron Rodgers fires back at 'ridiculous allegations' surrounding Jets HC exit

New York Jets (2-3) quarterback Aaron Rodgers responded to the accusations that he was involved in the firing of head coach Robert Saleh during a Wednesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

Rodgers told McAfee he “resents any of those accusations,” downplaying the amount of power he is perceived to have within the organization.

"As far as any of the ridiculous allegations that are out there..

I'm not gonna spend more than one sentence in response to it..

I resent any of those accusations because they are patently false" ~ @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive https://t.co/jHz7zDLnto pic.twitter.com/wrRzN9Rnd1

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 9, 2024

“As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I’m not gonna spend more than one sentence in response to it. I resent any of those accusations because they’re patently false and it’s interesting the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don’t,” Rodgers said. “I love Robert, and it was one of those days yesterday.”

Aaron Rodgers pulls back curtain on call with Jets owner Woody Johnson

Jets owner Woody Johnson said he spoke to Rodgers Monday night, however, it wasn’t about Saleh. Rodgers said he didn’t find anything abnormal about the timing of the call. He added he was in the trainer’s room receiving treatment when he learned of Saleh’s firing.

“Yeah, I did talk to Woody. Woody called me on Monday night. We had a short conversation. I appreciated the call. It was a genuine call,” Rodgers said. “He just asked me how I was doing. You know, obviously I got rolled up on during the game and, you know, my ankle got pretty banged up. So, he just called and was asking how I was doing. We talked about the game and how disappointed I was in my performance, and that I’m going to play better and we’re going to get this thing turned around. Then, we hung up.

“To that point, you know, Woody has no obligation to let me know of what his plans are. Whether or not he knew what he was doing at that moment is inconsequential. I just appreciate the call that he was checking on me. It was just like a friend calling, like he would do, ‘Hey, man, I saw that hit in the game, you doing OK?’ and we had a nice, short five-minute conversation, and then that was that. … I felt it was a nice call. I was appreciative that he checked on me. … It didn’t seem like anything abnormal.”

Johnson emphasized Tuesday he operated alone in coming to the decision to fire Saleh.

“This was my decision, and mine alone,” Johnson said.

Jets name interim head coach after Robert Saleh’s firing

The Jets made the decision to part ways with Saleh after 56 games and zero playoff appearances in his three full-time seasons as head coach. Saleh went 20-36 in New York, and his team underperformed to high expectations in the first five games this season. The final straw was a 23-17 Week 5 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings (5-0) this past Sunday in London, in which the offense largely looked disjointed for the second consecutive contest.

Saleh reportedly had plans to relieve Nathaniel Hackett of his play-calling duties, handing over the reins to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Downing. Saleh came to that decision Tuesday morning, but roughly five minutes later was called to team owner Woody Johnson’s office where he learned of his fate, according to Connor Hughes of SNY.

New York named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Ulbrich has been on the Jets’ coaching staff since Saleh’s hiring in January 2021.