Sauce Gardner gets brutally honest about NY Jets firing Robert Saleh

Reactions have been coming in left and right since the New York Jets decided to fire head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.

Of course, the opinions and hot takes all around the sports media world, and within the NFL fan base, only matter so much. They can all be taken with a grain of salt.

However, when it comes to the players? That's a completely different story. These are the men who spent the majority of their waking hours with Saleh. As quarterback Aaron Rodgers pointed out during his interview on The Pat McAfee Show, there is certainly a "human aspect" to this entire situation.

While everyone and their brother speculated over whether or not it was Rodgers' fault that Saleh was fired, he was sitting there thinking about his coach's wife and kids. Clearly, Saleh made an impact.

Rodgers wasn't the only player who got real honest, real quick, about Saleh's firing, though.

2-time Pro Bowl cornerback Sauce Gardner was a favorite of Saleh back in the top of the 2022 NFL Draft, and when the head coach made the Cincinnati product a Jet, he would forever be indebted to his first NFL coach.

ESPN's Kimberly Martin caught up with Gardner on Thursday and asked him about the Saleh firing, to which Gardner responded with an emotional reaction.

Sauce Gardner's comments on Robert Saleh's firing might insinuate what many Jets fans are feeling

Before Saleh was fired, there was a portion of Jets fans who probably would have rather the team rid themselves of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. To this point in the season, it has been the offense which has held the Jets back

Defensively, Saleh and now-interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich were leading a stout defense, to no one's surprise. The problem was, Saleh didn't make the decision to relieve Hackett of play calling duties soon enough.

Of course, fast forward two days and Ulbrich ended up making that decision, regardless.

Gardner likely felt the same way as many of these fans. It wasn't on Saleh. The problems were held mostly within Hackett's offense and refusal to adapt. Now, Hackett is still employed by the team while Saleh is out.

It doesn't seem all that fair, which is also why this decision came as a shock to many.

The Jets will now look to turn things around in Week 6 against the division rival Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football where, according to Gardner, some of the players are still going to be playing for their former coach.

For the record, that's not a slight at Ulbrich by any means. If anything, that's a shot at Woody Johnson. But, it's also a story for another day.