Jets owner Woody Johnson has already fired coach Robert Saleh. G.M. Joe Douglas isn’t concerned about the possibility that he might be next.
“I come in here every day and just want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and reach its destination,” Douglas told reporters on Wednesday, via the Associated Press. “And whatever happens, happens.”
It sounds as if Douglas won’t be surprised if what happened to Saleh happens to him.
“Obviously, it starts with me,” Douglas said. “I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could have done better. Obviously, when a situation happens like what happened four weeks ago [with Saleh’s firing], you have a lot of self-reflective moments on the things that you could have done better to keep that from happening.”
Douglas didn’t fire Saleh; Johnson did. And Douglas wouldn’t comment on the decision Johnson made, or Douglas’s role in it.
“Not going to get into any of the details or the conversations that happened before or after that,” Douglas said. “Woody and I talk every day, but at the end of the day — and I think Colin Powell said it in a different arena — but I serve at the pleasure of the owner.”
Given the possibility that the owner will return to the UK as the United States ambassador, the man who hired Douglas — Christopher Johnson — could be the one who decides his future.
Whoever decides the General Manager’s future, the Jets have eight games to play. At 3-6, they can still salvage the season and qualify for the playoffs. That would surely earn Douglas at least another year.
