Sports Illustrated Gives Jets' Robert Saleh Thanksgiving Day Endorsement

Head coach's leadership reason to give thanks during tumultuous season

Some of his shine has worn off since reaching its zenith during the Hard Knocks summertime documentary series, but New York Jets' head coach Robert Saleh deserves some level of appreciation for the job he's done dealing with grossly unexpected circumstances.

Despite losing their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback four offensive snaps into the season, the Jets have managed to stay relevant and remain on the periphery of the postseason chase. Even with their hopes fading as a result of a three-game losing streak, Gang Green has plenty of reason to give thanks.

In an annual exercise spearheaded by Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated identified one unique thing for each NFL team to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving Weekend. The main reason for the Jets to be thankful — third-year head coach Robert Saleh.

"We are 4-6, obviously we are a little bit behind the eight ball, but we are not out," said Saleh this past week. "The NFL is a roller coaster ride, but at the end of the day, I think our group has a lot of confidence."

While Orr and senior reporter Albert Breer are part of the "extend Robert Saleh" movement, SI writer Gilberto Manzano said the head coach deserves blame for waiting too long to make a starting quarterback switch.

From NFL Thanksgiving 2023: What Every Team Should be Thankful For:

New York Jets

Robert Saleh 

A few weeks ago on The MMQB Podcast, Albert Breer and I began the “extend Robert Saleh” movement. Not to speak for my colleague, but I think Albert and I have a unique perspective given that we are both currently raising young children, and being the head coach of the Jets feels like raising a lot of young children. One of them gets hurt for no apparent reason. One of them won’t follow directions, but then will walk out on the field and throw a no-look pass through his legs that is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Everyone around you keeps giving you advice that clearly won’t work, and there’s almost never anyone patting you on the back and saying, “Hey, don’t worry if you break a few eggs in this omelet. Life goes on.” 

The Jets didn’t need a culture changer; they needed a good dad who doesn’t freak out all the time. Woody Johnson will spend an eternity realizing this. The other day on WFAN, the wonderful sports-talk powerhouse in New York, I heard the hosts calling Saleh “soft” for not freaking out more at people. But as any good parent knows, it is so much harder to not freak out than to freak out. Take it from a dad who told his kid at dinner the other day to stop throwing lemon juice on their food because it already had plenty of lemon juice on it, only to have the kid hoist one leg onto the table to defy orders, then flip backward off said table into a heap on the floor. Deep breaths, everyone (kid’s fine).

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