Todd Bowles is getting another year as coach of the New York Jets, and according to ownership it isn’t playoffs or bust.
Woody Johnson said Friday that there is no “mandate” being set down that Bowles must make the playoffs or face the consequences.
“No. I don’t really like mandates because they normally don’t work – lines in the sand or whatever,” Johnson said, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk. “You don’t want to judge it that way. The way we’ll judge it is getting better each and every year, and seeing it in our players, our young players – are they getting better or are they going the other way.”
The Jets went from 10-6 and nearly making the playoffs in 2015 to a miserable 5-11 campaign in 2016. So is the franchise headed in the right direction?
“I think that [the fans] have to have confidence,” Johnson said. “This is their team. They have to see what’s happening and have confidence that we have everything in place to make it better and give them what they want. So they can be proud of their team.”
It’s not clear which Jets team Johnson is watching, because the one fans saw took a significant step back and ended the season with spats between teammates going public. The team doesn’t have the most salary cap freedom, either, so improvements may be difficult. Maybe Johnson knows that and isn’t holding it against his coach.
