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It began with another banner flying over MetLife Stadium demanding the firing of “everyone” by New York Giants ownership. And if you think that was an indignity for one of New York’s professional football teams, consider that the early headlines of the day offered a hint of disrespect for the New York Jets as well.
The Jets, you see, have already moved on to 2025. They’ll deny that, but if the point needs to be fully illustrated, consider that the team has already scheduled interviews for its vacant general manager job and those will begin as early as next week – with three games remaining in the season.
Welcome to professional football in New York, ladies and gentlemen. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Curious Moments Before Games
None of this, of course, had anything to do with actual games.
Giants coach Brian Daboll obviously took that course in responding to questions about the banner.
“Yeah, we just control what we can control,” he said tersely. “Just control what we can control. Get ready to play again this week.”
The Giants lost again on Sunday. They were big underdogs against the Baltimore Ravens and didn’t disappoint the bookies who set the odds because they were blown out by Lamar Jackson and company, 35-14.
The defense was, well, overmatched. It gave up touchdowns on simple routine execution by the Ravens, but also by combining terrible coverage with awful tackling.
Jackson threw five TD passes and some of that was busted coverages and poor tackling.
So, yes, a very frustrating day for the Giants.
Jets Manage A Win Despite Insult
It was an interesting day for the Jets as well.
They got into a unremarkable contest against the Jaguars in which two disappointing 3-10 teams played in front of a sparse crowd in Jacksonville. Yeah, not exactly attention-grabbing.
And it should be noted immediately that the Jets won. They scored twice in the fourth quarter – on a 71-yard touchdown from Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams and then after a 70-yard drive that delivered the winning score.
It was what everyone in the Jets organization thought would be possible all year long. Except this was the exception.
And it was not the most newsworthy thing of the day.
Jon Robinson A GM Candidate
The most interesting thing about the Jets now is the looming GM search and coach search that must wait until after the season.
The GM search doesn’t have to start now, but it is allowed to. And the Jets are going forward, regardless of whether it disrespects the players, coaches, and personnel department people trying to close out the season.
The message is it’s not about you people, anymore. It’s about the future.
The first couple of names on the GM search list, per multiple reports, are former Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, as reported by ESPN.
Riddick, Robinson Seemingly Dissimilar
And the Jets are going to conduct a wide-ranging search. But the intriguing thing about these two initial candidates is they couldn’t be more dissimilar.
Robinson was the general manager of the Titans for seven years and his teams went to the playoffs four times, including once as the AFC’s top seed. Riddick, 55, has interviewed for multiple GM jobs in recent years and has NFL personnel department experience. But he’s never been a general manager.
So what exactly the Jets value in this search – experience or a fresh perspective – is so far unclear.