Nathaniel Hackett demoted as Jets continue to shuffle deckchairs on Titanic

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

A weird week for the Jets took another turn.

A weird week for the New York Jets is only getting more bizarre. Just days after Robert Saleh was fired as head coach more changes were made to the coaching side, as interim Jeff Ulbrich announced Thursday that Nathaniel Hackett was being demoted, and will no longer be calling offensive plays.

Hackett, widely considered to have the job because of his relationship with Aaron Rodgers, was the source of speculation surrounding Saleh’s firing on Monday. It had been reported that Saleh intended to pull Hackett off play calling duty prior to being axed, which led to speculation that Rodgers might have had a say in the firing. Since that time the Jets have been trying to insulate Rodgers, claiming he had nothing to do with the move — and the new change at offensive coordinator continues that trend.

The Jets offense has been their biggest problem this season. Defensively under Saleh and Ullbrich the team was great, ranking 5th in the NFL in EPA per defensive play, but on offense Hackett and Rodgers had been struggling to a 22nd rank in offensive EPA per play. A switch at offensive coordinator might solve some of this team’s woes, though Rodgers continues to play the worst football of his career.

Playcalling now falls to Todd Downing, who had been serving as quarterback coach and passing coordinator. Downing’s experience at offensive coordinator had two stops on his resume: With the Raiders in 2017, and the Titans in 2021 and 2022. The results for those teams was, well … bad.

Raiders (2017): 16th in passing, 25th in rushing — 23rd in points scored
Titans (2021) 24th in passing, 5th in rushing — 15th in points scored
Titans (2022): 30th in passing, 13th in rushing — 28th in points scored

Essentially the Jets are going to have to hope Todd Downing doesn’t coach like Todd Downing in order to turn this around. Good luck with that.