Jets owner takes unsubtle digs at Zach Wilson, Nathaniel Hackett

On the heels of yet another disappointing Jets season, team owner Woody Johnson was blunt in his assessment of what went wrong.

The Jets finished 7-10, prolonging the longest playoff drought (13 seasons) in North American sports. Despite entering 2023 with Super Bowl aspirations, New York's hopes were immediately dashed once quarterback Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles just four snaps into the season.

Following Rodgers' freak injury, the Jets were forced to turn to Zach Wilson as starting quarterback — a mistake Johnson is intent on not making again this offseason.

"We need a backup quarterback," Johnson said ahead of the “NFL Honors” program, per the New York Post. "We didn’t have one last year."

Wilson was never supposed to see the field as a starter last season. GM Joe Douglas and HC Robert Saleh hoped to give the 24-year-old a "redshirt" season on the bench, where he could learn behind Rodgers for multiple years and get his career back on track.

That plan immediately went out the window once Rodgers crumpled to the turf in Week 1, a scene that Johnson likened to the feeling of "having your arm chopped off." But with several viable backup quarterbacks available on the market — namely Joe Flacco, who was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year after leading the Browns to the playoffs — the Jets opted to stick with Wilson.

Wilson won five games as a starter, though he often appeared to be holding the Jets offense and its star playmakers back. Due to his inconsistent play, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft was benched in November for Tim Boyle. He finished the season with 2,271 passing yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in 12 games.

The Jets quarterback carousel continued to spin as losses stacked up, with Boyle eventually being benched for Trevor Siemian. It didn't seem to matter who played quarterback, however, as New York's offense consistently ranked as one of the worst in the NFL. The Jets finished last in the league in red-zone TD scoring percentage (32.4) and third-down conversion rate (26 percent), as well as 31st in yards per play (4.3).

Along with the Jets quarterbacks, Nathaniel Hackett received much of the blame for the team's struggles on offense. The offensive coordinator will return in 2024, although in what capacity remains to be seen. After reports in The Athletic suggested that Saleh would consider adding to New York's offensive staff and reducing Hackett’s role, Johnson reaffirmed the plan.

"[Saleh is] going to concentrate on offense," Johnson said. "He's got Jeff [Ulbrich] to kind of do the defense and we've got good special teams. It's offense, offense, offense."

If the offense doesn't improve in 2024, more drastic changes are likely to come — starting with Saleh and Douglas.

"The discussions I’ve had in the last couple of months, they’ve seen me about as mad as I can be, with what was going on with the offense particularly," Johnson said. "We’ve got all this talent and we’ve got to deploy talent properly. I think they all got the message. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year. We have to produce this year."