Bill Belichick reacts to Jets firing Robert Saleh

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was somewhat linked to the New York Jets earlier this fall before Jets owner Woody Johnson shockingly fired Robert Saleh on Tuesday.

The legendary coach discussed Johnson's decision during the latest "Coach with Bill Belichick" program. 

"Everybody has to move forward," Belichick said, as shared by Erich Richter of the New York Post. "It’s the owner’s prerogative to make that decision, and clearly that’s what he decided to do. But there have been a lot of things that have been kind of confusing. It hasn’t been a great situation for the Jets this year. You can kind of feel there’s been kind of a chill." 

Rumors about Saleh and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers having "a major issue" arose before New York fell to 2-3 via last Sunday's 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Rodgers has insisted he had nothing to do with Johnson's decision, and the future Hall of Famer reportedly took the firing of Saleh "harder than almost anybody" else associated with the franchise. 

That said, it's clear that New York's offense's play across back-to-back losses helped seal Saleh's fate. On Thursday, interim Jets head coach Jeff Ulbrich confirmed he had replaced offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett with quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Todd Downing as the team's offensive play-caller heading into this Monday's home game against the 3-2 Buffalo Bills. 

"They’ve overall played pretty good defense over the last few years," Belichick added about the Jets during the show segment. "Like, that’s been a pretty solid group. But the rest of the organization, just some of the appearance of dysfunctionality, has been tough. And that’s the ownership, that’s personnel, that’s coaching. Where exactly that falls I’m not sure, but it just hasn’t looked good." 

Such comments are noteworthy, considering multiple NFL insiders made it known this week they don't believe Belichick would accept the Jets job this coming January because of his "distaste" for the organization related to his alleged opinion that Johnson is not "a really good owner." While Belichick could become desperate to pursue the NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined), it doesn't sound like he's all that eager to work for Johnson anytime soon.