Jets’ Robert Saleh Retracts Comment on ‘Embarrassing’ Bills QB Josh Allen
The Buffalo Bills (5-5) face a must-win game against the New York Jets (4-5) on Sunday, November 19.
The AFC East rivals faced off back in Week 1, during which the Jets unexpectedly defeated Buffalo 26-22.
After New York beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6, Jets head coach Robert Saleh was feeling himself.
“Through these first six weeks, we’ve played a gauntlet of quarterbacks. I know we haven’t gotten all wins, but we’ve embarrassed all of them.” While Saleh’s comment was a bit overstatement, the Jets defense picked off quarterback Josh Allen three times in the season opener, and he fumbled twice.
Since then, the Bills’ season has been a roller coaster, but things haven’t gotten any better for the Jets. When Saleh spoke to reporters on Nov. 17, he was asked about his previous comments about Josh Allen, and he sang a completely different tune.
“Embarrassing is probably the wrong choice of words in the heat of the moment,” Saleh said. “Josh is a phenomenal quarterback. He’s one of the 10 best quarterbacks with the ball.” Be very proud. He’s a one-man saboteur, almost Superman on the football field. I respect him very much.
“Everything we do is for Josh. And they have talent around him… They have a very, very talented football team.” And Josh has also punched us in the mouth a couple of times. So, he’s well deserving of all the respect he gets.”
The Jets Don’t Think the Bills’ New OC Will Have a Major Effect
With their playoff hopes dwindling, Bills head coach Sean McDermott made a drastic move to fire offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey earlier this week. While McDermott hopes interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady will breathe fresh energy into their struggling offense, an immediate turnaround is unlikely.
Saleh told reporters on November 15 that the coaching change has little effect on how they’ll prepare for Allen & Co.
“Brady is a very talented young man. From a schematic standpoint, we have our thoughts, I’m not going to get into it here. As for the gameplay, we have our own thoughts, so we won’t go into details here. Obviously, there will be some nuances and changes. We don’t change coordinators unless we expect something to change.
“At the same time, even though you’re expected to reinvent the wheel so quickly, they’re still who they are. They’re a very talented football team.” They are still a top-10 offense despite changing coordinators.”
The No. 1 change Allen is looking to make in Week 11 is to stop turning the ball over. It’s the main reason Dorsey was fired. He leads the league with 11 interceptions. The offense ranks second in giveaways (18). Allen has 17 career giveaways against New York, his most against any opponent.
Jets safety Jordan Whitehead, who has intercepted Allen four times in the past four years, agrees with Saleh. “This is our (10th) game. We can’t change too much,” Whitehead told reporters.
“He’s the same coach we had a few weeks ago. You can’t change the whole playbook. The order may be different, but soccer is soccer. Read the key and take it to play.
Josh Allen is Focused on Beating the Jets
Josh Allen looked pretty depressed when he spoke to reporters after Dorsey was fired. But the 27-year-old knows Buffalo has to beat the Jets to advance to the postseason.
“The fact is we’re 5-5 and our backs against the wall,” Allen said. “The clock’s ticking on what we can do this season and it starts this Sunday to try to turn this thing around. It’s no secret in terms of how many wins you probably need to get to the playoffs, and we don’t have much more wiggle room.
“So, we understand that. But again, we can’t focus on the next week or the week after that and we can’t focus on the end of the season. We got to focus on the here and now and that’s Sunday.”
