Robert Saleh backs away from his Aaron Rodgers concern

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh is already trying to walk back remarks he made that were critical of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ cadence.

The Jets took five false start penalties in Sunday’s 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. After the game, Saleh, unhappy with that lack of discipline, suggested that perhaps the Jets were not entirely capable of handling Rodgers’ complex cadence without being baited into penalties themselves.

After Rodgers reacted negatively to Saleh’s comments, the head coach quickly backtracked on Monday, claiming that his comments were not about cadence, but were instead a matter of “operation.”

“We’re always going to push the envelope with cadence. Always,” Saleh said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “But with regards to operation, getting in and out of the huddle, getting to the line of scrimmage, the communication that’s being had, those are all things that we can continue to look at and clean up.

“But from a cadence standpoint, that’s part of what makes us who we are, and we’re going to continue to always push the envelope on that.”

Rodgers’ unique cadence has always been one of his strengths and trademarks, and throughout his career he has regularly been able to get defenses to jump offside as a result of them. The Jets are simply not as well-versed in dealing with them as the Green Bay Packers were.

Perhaps Saleh did just choose his words poorly, but this entire episode will not do much to combat the narrative that Rodgers and Saleh don’t have the best relationship, or that Rodgers is ultimately the one calling the shots in New York.