NFL Jets Chair & CEO Christopher Johnson yesterday said that he will "make all football decisions" while his brother, Jets Owner Woody Johnson, "serves a four-year term as the U.S. ambassador" to the U.K., according to George Willis of the N.Y. POST. Those decisions will "include whether to retain" coach Todd Bowles and GM Mike Maccagnan after what is "shaping up to be a horrendous season." The Jets are 0-2, and Johnson "vowed he wouldn’t decide on the two most important jobs on the team until after the season and that the Jets’ won-loss record won’t be a factor." Johnson: "My brother once said he wasn’t judging the guys on the won-loss record, but on their progression, and I agree with that. This is a team on the rise. There’s some growing pains right now, but we have a great plan and I’m going to do everything I can to support the people in this building." Johnson "feels qualified to handle his new position, saying he was present for all the major football decisions for the last 16 years and was a sounding board for his brother." He said, "It’s not like I’m a neophyte in the building. ... I bleed green like they do." He added, "I want to see this team progress every game. I'm not happy with losses. I'm not happy with mistakes" (N.Y. POST, 9/21). Johnson praised both Bowles and Maccagnan, saying he is "really impressed" with Bowles and calling Maccagnan an "extraordinary talent evaluator" (ESPN.com, 9/20).
GOING ALL IN: On Long Island, Calvin Watkins notes a "major point" Johnson made yesterday was that the Jets "are not tanking." Johnson: "It couldn't be further from the truth." He added, "The real way to judge this team and the people on it, me included, is are we getting better." Any major deals by the Jets now will be done with "no input" from Woody Johnson. Christopher Johnson said, "He really has a full-time job over there. We are not discussing football. He's out of it" (NEWSDAY, 9/21). Watkins wrote, "Woody Johnson is out. Really out" (NEWSDAY, 9/21). ESPN.com's Rich Cimini wrote Christopher Johnson was "realistic about the present state of the team and hopeful about the future." He "exuded confidence." Cimini: "Brilliant. Where has this guy been hiding?" Johnson "looks like his older brother and sounds like him at times, but their personalities and approaches are different." Johnson "won't be an every-day-at-the-office owner" like the Giants' John Mara and Patriots' Robert Kraft, but he is "planning to be around as much as possible" (ESPN.com, 9/20).
