Kevin Durant throws his confidence behind Aaron Rodgers' Jets ahead of MNF vs Bills
The New York Jets have had a tumultuous week. On Sunday, the team suffered a 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, and dropped to 2-3.
Two days later, they fired head coach Robert Saleh and replaced him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in an interim capacity. He then stripped the much-maligned Nathaniel Hackett of play-calling duties and handed them to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Downing.
The chaos within the franchise and their underwhelming play on the field has prompted many to write their odds of making a deep playoff run. However, Kevin Durant still believes the team will turn it around.
During an appearance on the Up and Adams Show, host Kay Adams asked the Phoenix Suns superstar whether it was to write off the Jets as a Super Bowl contender. The 14-time All-Star responded:
"The players play the coaches. They know football. So whoever's in place, they know football. You got veteran players, and then they can rally around each other, and they got pride. That's one thing I know about that group, they got pride in themselves and their games, and they don't want to go out like this, so they going to come with it."
He also backed Aaron Rodgers, Ulbrich and the Jets to pull off a surprise win on Monday night football against division leaders the Buffalo Bills. He said:
"I think they beat Buffalo on Monday night, that's gonna turn the momentum back to their side."
Aaron Rodgers on Robert Saleh firing: QB denies playing role in HC's exit
Following Robert Saleh's surprise firing, Jets owner Woody Johnson claimed he was solely responsible for the head coach's exit. However, rumors circulated that the team's top brass spoke with Aaron Rodgers before pulling the trigger.
During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, the quarterback addressed the reports. He said:
"As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I'm not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it. And that is that I resent any of those accusations because they are patently false. It's interesting the amount of power that people think that I have, which I don't. I love Robert."
The noise around the Jets remains loud, but Rodgers and the team can shut it down with a win on Monday night against the Bills.