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Robert Saleh removed play-calling duties from Nathaniel Hackett before being fired
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Robert Saleh removed play-calling duties from Nathaniel Hackett before being fired

More details are sure to emerge in the coming days about the day Jets owner/ambassador Woody Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh. Here’s one we caught wind of, based on communications with multiple sources.

During a meeting on Tuesday morning, Saleh informed the coaching staff that passing game coordinator Todd Downing would become the play-caller for the game day, with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett being demoted. Hackett wasn’t fired in the classic sense, but it would be his decision whether to stay.

Then, after the meeting, Saleh found himself fired in the classic sense.

It is unclear whether the timing is coincidental or related. Anyway, Hackett was out as a play-caller – and then Saleh was out as a coach.

If nothing else, the circumstances will make quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ performance Wednesday on Pat McAfee’s show even more compelling. What did he know? When did he know? And did he find out that Hackett (Rodgers’ good friend) was absent as play-caller in the period between the staff meeting and Saleh’s firing?