Mike LaFleur looked every bit the rookie offensive coordinator and first-time play-caller trying to develop a rookie franchise quarterback under a rookie head coach in the early stages of his dream job with the Jets last fall, and he seemed more like a precocious quarterback-whisperer by the time the 2021 season ended.
No one should expect any more growing pains from the second-year offensive coordinator … certainly not with all the shiny new toys general manager Joe Douglas has gifted him.
Quarterback Zach Wilson had to crawl before he could walk, and now the man most responsible for getting him to run and leap over those second-year hurdles is LaFleur.
The Robert Saleh Era will ultimately be defined by whether Wilson is everything the Jets believe he will be, and there are encouraging signs LaFleur is the right man to help the young pilot take flight.
It can be a beautiful thing to watch when play-caller and young franchise quarterback become one mind in two bodies:
The young Joe Montana had Bill Walsh. The young Troy Aikman had Norv Turner. The young Josh Allen had Brian Daboll.
“I wanted to be in front of that room, through the good through the bad and see what my body would go through,” LaFleur said.
“I want to see what kind of heart rate I have when I got in front of the room on a Monday after we didn’t play well. You’re in front of 30 or so grown men that want to figure out how we’re gonna win in this league, because when you win in this league, it suits everybody, most importantly the players. And so when you’re winning, as a leader, as a coordinator, you gotta figure that out, and you gotta figure out verbally in terms of how to talk to ’em and motivate ’em and get ’em to believe. That’s what I wanted before the season, and that’s exactly what went on throughout the season. … I liked how I responded to it personally.”
The naysayers and doomsday predictors who feast on struggling or overmatched New York football offensive coordinators were enjoying open season on LaFleur, especially when the Patriots’ Mac Jones (and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels) seemed light years ahead of Wilson (and LaFleur).
LaFleur didn’t flinch.
“It was difficult watching our players struggle in terms of us not being successful as an offense,” LaFleur said. “I’m always gonna put it on myself as the coordinator. I’m the one calling the plays and putting together a plan with our staff, and when it’s not working in this league, it’s not fun. … Ultimately when you’re not having success, doubt is gonna creep in, and how can you find ways to make sure that doubt isn’t gonna creep in? It’s just keeping it real with the guys, I think we did that, and I think as you saw I thought we grew together as a group and really have trust for each other from player to coach and coach to player.”
It was a little less than perfect when LaFleur rightfully took the blame for Wilson’s failed fourth-and-2 QB sneak from the Buccaneers’ 7-yard line with 2:17 remaining on what should have been a Braxton Berrios reverse — in a 28-24 Week 17 loss to Tampa Bay.
“[That is] 100 percent on me,” LaFleur would say. “Disappointed with myself for two reasons. I pride myself on communication and our unit on execution. You hear me talk about execution a lot and I failed at both of those. … I have to live with that.”
In the bigger picture, Wilson (knee) benefitted from watching Mike White, Josh Johnson and Joe Flacco orchestrate the famed Shanahan offense when he returned and LaFleur flashed his creativity with a number of gadget plays. Now LaFleur’s mandate is to make sure that Wilson never again has a 55.3 completion percentage, worst in the league for a quarterback with over 200 attempts.
“A lot of his issues were maybe trying to see too much,” LaFleur said. “The biggest focus was getting your eyes in the right spot at the right time, and that is a focus that we’re gonna continue these last OTAs obviously, and then throughout training camp to make sure we are so ready to roll in September.”
LaFleur is thrilled not only with Wilson’s beefed-up body, but with his huddle presence as well.
“He’s so comfortable before I give him a play that he’s dapping up with everybody else talking to ’em as I’m saying a play,” LaFleur said.
Douglas has done the job supporting Wilson by drafting the best receiver in the draft (Garrett Wilson) and the best running back in the draft (Breece Hall). He also added quality tight end options (C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert) in free agency and the draft, while fortifying the offensive line with a new quality bodyguard (guard Laken Tomlinson).
“But there is only one ball,” LaFleur said. “But ultimately, if you got the right guys, organically it’ll all figure itself out and they’ll understand it. … It’s a very good problem to have. We’re young, guys are still learning how to play, but we got pieces to work with.
“It’ll be fun and a challenge at the same time getting this thing all to mesh together.”
That’s on him, with help from trusted quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese in a streamlined quarterbacks room. I asked LaFleur if he felt any pressure to help get Wilson (nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions in 2021) to another level.
“Pressure no, urgency yes,” he said. “This league doesn’t care … if you don’t like pressure in this league you’re in the wrong league, so you better be able to just deal with that. But the urgency to get it done, get it done the right way but also in an urgent manner that we gotta get better every single day starting right now.”
As Mike LaFleur gets better, Zach Wilson gets better with him. Growing pains over. For both of them. No excuses.
