A couple years ago the Athletic published an article about the dysfunction within the New York Jets. New York had just fired its head coach, Robert Saleh following a disappointing trip to London, England, in which they lost to the Minnesota Vikings 23-17 to drop to 2-3 on the season.
It was wild.
Of course Jets fans pounded on Johnson for the handling of the Saleh situation, and the Jets failings over the past 15 years without a playoff appearance. The media has dissected his every word -- when he does speak in public -- but we never really get HIS side of the story. That was until now.
Fast forward to today, and The Athletic is back with a new article on Johnson, this time written exclusively by Jets beat writer Zach Rosenblat, and it depicts, in grand detail, how Johnson is doing everything he can to change the narrative about himself and the organization.
It's an incredible story.
"When we sat down, he flat-out told me: Listen, I made mistakes,'" Aaron Glenn is quoted as saying in the story about his first meeting with Johnson when the Jets were searching for a head coach in January of 2025.
What follows is a story that details how Johnson tried to learn from his own mistakes, while not shying away from his firing of Saleh. Ironically the Jets face Saleh on Sunday when Gang Green opens the season against the Tennessee Titans with Saleh as its head coach.
Rosenblat explains how Johnson's just couldn't co-exist with Saleh and then GM Joe Douglas, both of whom were hired by his brother, Christopher, in 2021. Johnson and Glenn made a pact to work together and so far they are trying to keep to it.
Rosenblat reports that Johnson improved the training facilities, a reconstruction project that is still on-going; he took to learning more about A.I. and how it could help the Jets moving forward schematically both in player preparation and nutrition, and he's allowed GM Darren Mougey to implement lessons and plans he's learned along the way after 12 years in Denver.
The players haven taken notice, as Johnson's NFLPA score jumped up from an F in 2024 to a solid B in 2025.
It's a intriguing story about reaching for redemption, and one that the Jets hope will pay off this year.
At the very least it should put to rest the story lines of tanking for the next so-called great quarterback, and Hot Seats, and Mike Tomlin -- at least for now. If Johnson is true to his word, and he and Glenn, and Mougey are indeed working in concert than the focus in 2026 should be on taking a step forward in the right direction and evaluating from there.
Nobody is expecting the Jets to win a Super Bowl in 2026. And anyone with any common sense shouldn't be expecting playoffs this year either, but an increase in wins? An increase in competency and solid play moving forward? That's really all fans should ask for.
Let's see how the chips fall beginning Sunday.
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