{"id":671615,"date":"2026-01-12T14:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671615\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:40:13","slug":"former-star-takes-shot-old-coach-shines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671615\/","title":{"rendered":"Former star takes shot, old coach shines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Such is life for a franchise that resides in the New York media market: Even when you\u2019re at home, the national media<\/a> finds a way to thrust you into the limelight.<\/p>\n

The Jets are spending their 15th straight wild card weekend on the proverbial couch, but it didn\u2019t stop them from being one of the most talked-about teams during the opening games of the 2025 NFL playoffs.<\/p>\n

Multiple former Jets figures prompted their old team to take center stage in the national conversation.<\/p>\n

Davante Adams takes a shot<\/p>\n

In an interview with FOX ahead of the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 Saturday afternoon wild card game against the Carolina Panthers, wide receiver Davante Adams took a shot at his former organization.<\/p>\n

Answering a question from teammate Puka Nacua regarding lessons he\u2019s taken from past losses that could help the Rams, Adams warned against the worst consequence of all: sitting at home with the Jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I think that kinda brings you to the Kobe mentality, you know, where it\u2019s like, you see why he wasn\u2019t smiling after they won that game because the job\u2019s not done,\u201d Adams said. \u201cYour main objective is to win the whole thing. You\u2019ve gotta find a way to be gritty, and resilient within those games, because if you don\u2019t bring your best stuff, you\u2019re gonna be at home with the Jets two seconds after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jets acquired Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders early in the 2024 season, trading away a 2025 third-round pick (via Detroit). Las Vegas wound up trading the selection (92nd overall) to Seattle for quarterback Geno Smith. The Seahawks used the pick to select Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.<\/p>\n

Adams was productive in 11 games for the Jets, catching 67 passes for 854 yards and seven touchdowns, but he did not help New York turn around a nightmarish season, as the Jets went 3-8 with Adams in the lineup.<\/p>\n

New York cut Adams<\/a> in March 2025 to free up $30 million in cap space, and Adams went on to sign with the Rams on a two-year, $44 million deal. In his first season under Rams offensive genius Sean McVay, Adams led the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions despite missing three games.<\/p>\n

Adams was not the only former Jet who thrust the struggling franchise back into the limelight.<\/p>\n

Robert Saleh is the star in Philly<\/p>\n

The sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers pulled off a road upset over the defending Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n

The man receiving the most praise for the effort is none other than the Jets\u2019 former head coach, Robert Saleh, who returned to his old role as the 49ers\u2019 defensive coordinator after being fired by the Jets in 2024.<\/p>\n

Under Saleh\u2019s lead, the 49ers\u2019 severely undermanned defense shut down Philadelphia\u2019s championship offense, holding the Eagles to 19 points, their fewest in a home playoff game under Nick Sirianni. The Birds had been averaging 34.8 points per game across five home playoff games in the Sirianni era.<\/p>\n

Throughout the game, Saleh received immense credit from the FOX broadcast crew, featuring Tom Brady as the color commentator. The 49ers\u2019 defense is down to bare bones from a talent perspective after suffering numerous critical injuries throughout the year.<\/p>\n

San Francisco is without its two best defensive players, perennial All-Pros Fred Waner and Nick Bosa, who are both on injured reserve. First-round pick Mykel Williams is also on injured reserve, while Dee Winters, a 17-game starter at linebacker, was sidelined in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Despite having a depth chart full of unheralded underdogs, Saleh\u2019s unit was dominant on the road against a team that had scored 95 points across its last two playoff games. It was a brilliant coaching effort from the Jets\u2019 former head honcho.<\/p>\n

Before Sunday\u2019s game, Saleh was already a popular name around the NFL\u2019s head coaching cycle<\/a>. Five teams have put in requests to interview Saleh: the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n

With his stock on the rise after wild card weekend, it is becoming increasingly likely that Saleh will get a second chance as a head coach.<\/p>\n

And he just might land with a team that faces the Jets twice a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Such is life for a franchise that resides in the New York media market: Even when you\u2019re at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[5430,7,3228,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,3231,41659,6043,3234,31834],"class_list":{"0":"post-671615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-davante-adams","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-free-content","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-jets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkjets","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-ny-jets-news","18":"tag-ny-jets-social-media","19":"tag-robert-saleh","20":"tag-standard","21":"tag-syndication"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115882650975639109","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}