Time for Todd to prove he can improve at job
THE question was blunt, and it was put before Todd Bowles in the aftermath of a long, miserable day in the Windy City, and it essentially went like this: Have you been given any assurance about your job status beyond this year?
“I don’t talk about my job status,” Bowles said.
The question was, essentially, repeated. And so was the answer.
“I don’t talk about my job status,” he said.
But Bowles does talk about his job status: constantly, consistently, but only in the kind of code that makes him comfortable. That is how we got this gem elsewhere in the postgame press conference following the Jets’ 24-10 loss to the Bears on Sunday: “I’m very proud of the way they fought and stayed together. This was one of the first games the entire year we stayed together as a team and fought, collectively.” He doubled down on that proud-of-the-boys message Monday afternoon, saying in a conference call with reporters: “We’re closer from a chemistry standpoint and from a camaraderie standpoint, we just have to make more plays.” And make no mistake: Those statements are ABSOLUTELY a commentary on his job status, delivered to an audience of one: Christopher Johnson, on whose watch an immensely critical call will be made in nine or so weeks, borrowing from The Clash: Should he stay or should he go now? If he stays there will be trouble. A vocal segment of Jets fans are done with Bowles, the matching 5-11 record the last two years combining with the greatest-hits tape that bled into the Bears game: seven pre-snap penalties. A terrible in-game decision to decline a penalty that would have set the Bears back to second-and-20, instead choosing to roll the dice on third-and-10 and promptly seeing his defense allow an 11-yard scramble by Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky. And, of course, the standard problem in what feels like every one of the 33 losses under Bowles: the give-up white-flag punt down two scores late in the fourth. But if he goes it will be double: If the Jets do decide to tear it down again — and it seems that will almost certainly be below the GM level — they will be facing an absolutely seminal do-or-die decision, because the next coach will absolutely be the one who determines whether the Sam Darnold Era reaches maximum effi-
ciency. Which leads to the question: Do you trust Mike Maccagnan to make that call? Or Christopher Johnson, for that matter? And if you get it wrong …
What the Jets have been hoping for — maybe hoping against hope for — is that Bowles would improve on the job. That doesn’t happen a lot with coaches and managers, but it does happen. Terry Francona is a much better manager now than he was in Philadelphia. Bill Belichick is a significantly better coach now than he was in Cleveland. Mike D’Antoni went 35-76 his first two seasons as a head coach in Denver and Phoenix; he’s 541-398 since.
But the things that plagued Bowles and his team in his first year — even though that first year was a generally feel-good 10-6 — plague them still. It isn’t so much the record; 3-5 would be tolerable if the Jets got there via a different path. It’s the sense around the team. It’s the lack of urgency, and imagination, and attention to detail.
It was interesting watching Bowles during the two-week stretch when he took over defensive play-calling duties during Kacy Rodgers’ illness; yes, they
won both games, and we have always known Bowles’ true talent is on that side of the ball. But the odd thing was, he also did a far better job as a head coach those weeks, too: The entire team had a fiercer attitude. Against the Colts they played against type and went for a score before the half. They were aggressive and smarter.
Yet the last two weeks, with Bowles returning to his seemingly preferred role as a delegator … well, it’s been a regression. That isn’t a knock on Rodgers at all, but it ought to be a sign to Bowles: He’s better when he’s more engaged, when he’s more hands-on, when he takes his fate into his own hands.
That would be sound strategy for him to follow in the season’s second half. Forget coded messages to his owner who, if he’s smart, doesn’t want to hear about how tight-knit the fellows are. He, like every other Jets fan, wants to learn, at last, if Bowles has it in him to finally grow into the job. Time is short. The evidence is damning. He can get better at this.
But he’d sure better start. And soon.