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Fans and experts are speculating whether Aaron Rodgers was behind Robert Saleh's firing

Fans and experts are speculating whether Aaron Rodgers was behind Robert Saleh's firing

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It didn't take long after Robert Saleh's stunning jets fired on Tuesday for the finger-pointing to begin.

As Jets and NFL fans digested Saleh's ouster after just five games, some speculated whether quarterback Aaron Rodgers was behind the head coach's death, pointing to a strange interaction between the two on the sideline in Week 3.

“Perhaps this was more telling than we thought,” CBS Sports HQ's Hailey Sutton wrote of X of Saleh, who grabbed Rodgers by the shoulders as the quarterback pushed off and appeared to stare at the coach in response.

Robert Saleh's sideline interaction with Aaron Rodgers in Week 3 caused quite a stir on social media. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Fans and sports media personalities are speculating whether Aaron Rodgers was behind the firing. X

“Guaranteed Aaron Rodgers fired Robert Saleh,” the @SavageSports_ account commented on X.

Although Saleh, 45, and Rodgers, 40, dismissed speculation of discord after the viral moment, several sports media personalities said Tuesday they believe all is not well at Florham Park.

“Then you saw the relationship between him and Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines and people speculated about it. The coach says one thing, Aaron Rodgers says another. You just say to yourself, “There is something wrong with this picture.” Something needs to be done and actually you saw what happened…. “That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Stephen A. Smith said on “First Take.”

Robert Saleh was fired after just five games into the 2024 season. Getty Images
The decision to fire Robert Saleh comes after the Jets' loss to the Vikings in London on October 6, 2024. Getty Images

Shannon Sharpe then looked back at the summer edition of Where's Aaron? when the four-time league MVP was believed to be in Egypt after skipping mandatory minicamp.

“Aaron Rodgers undercut this man by not coming to mandatory minicamp. We heard the rumblings… The moment Aaron Rodgers did that, Robert Saleh was out of control… Boy, this looks bad for Aaron Rodgers. He doesn't realize how bad this looks. Can you imagine Tom Brady being fired as a coach later in his career? …This evil man has caused more trouble than he's worth. And people need to acknowledge that he didn’t play well,” Sharpe said.

WFAN's Brandon Tierney also suggested “that the Rodgers-Saleh dynamic behind the scenes was even worse than portrayed.”

The Jets (2-3) lost their second straight game on Sunday, a 23-17 loss to the Vikings in London in which Rodgers threw three interceptions.

That followed a sloppy 10-9 loss to the Bo Nix-led Broncos at home the week before, where the offense failed to find the end zone.

Robert Saleh has been the Jets' coach since 2021. Bill Kostroun for the New York Post

In separate postgame press conferences, Saleh and Rodgers offered different theories on how to handle a number of pre-snap penalties on offense.

Saleh suggested looking at Rodgers' cadence to fix the problem.

“That’s a possibility,” Rodgers said. “The other way is to hold them accountable.”

Jets owner Woody Johnson confirmed Saleh's firing in a statement Tuesday and announced that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will serve as interim coach.

“This was not an easy decision, but we are not where our expectations should be and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction,” Johnson said.

The Jets will host the Bills next Monday in prime time.

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