Brian Costello gives his takeaways from Jets GM Joe Douglas comments at the NFL Combine

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The NFL scouting combine is underway in Indianapolis and we’re here to talk to our Jets beat Rider Brian Costello about Joe Douglas and his presser today Brian how you doing man I’m good Ryan how you doing I’m doing well so Brian how many scouting combines has this been for you

Now in Indianapolis I don’t want to count well too many too many it’s uh it’s been a lot I can imagine and you know we a lot of jets fans paying attention to what Joe Douglas had to say today what was your immediate takeaway from everything that he had to cover

Today in that pressure in front of you guys in the media yeah there were a lot of like minor topics Ry but nothing major I didn’t think there was any big screaming headline from this one just a few minor ones um to me the overall thing is this feels different this year than

Than the other years for Douglas like the pressure is really on them and there’s always pressure every year there’s something right like I’m sure we’ve said uh this is the most important offseason for Joe Douglas four times but if you think about it you know when he

First came in in June of 19 he basically got a free pass that year because it wasn’t his team the next year everything was blamed on Adam gase the following year it was the reset with Salah and Zach Wilson so there was no expectations with a rookie coach and a rookie uh

Quarterback then next year he the pressure was on him to get the draft the first like that he had two top 10 picks he got it right he he nailed that with sa and Garrett and and the team was probably had a schedule that year but

You his job was never really in question and then last year it was go get Aaron Rogers and I think there would have been questions about his job if Rogers had stayed healthy but once Rogers went down they basically got a mulligan Sol and so this year it’s now you know Woody said

It at the Super Bowl they have to win this year and you can kind of feel like there’s just a little more pressure um you to win and they know they have to win and I think Joe is not running from that no he clearly isn’t and one of the

Big tasks that he has this off season it’s no secret Brian the Jets need to fix this offensive line replace three starters now after releasing Laken Tomlinson earlier this week so when you hear Joe Douglas’s comments about flexibility uh we feel like we’re in a good position with the draft and free

Agency and trade and also he mentions Elijah Vera Tucker and his versatility to be able to play four different positions on the offensive line how are you seeing this for the Jets as we’re in the combine they’re going to be scouting the tackles obviously they have that

10th pick what are you what are you sensing here with Joe Douglas and the fact that he says he has the versatility and the flexibility this offseason to address that offensive line well I mean the versatility part of it Ryan is this team either needs two guards and a

Tackle or two tackles in a guard depending on where Elijah veriter plays and I think they can go into this not pitching H holding themselves saying we’re going to do this they can see how the market kind of shapes up in two weeks right and our guards is the guard

Market exploding and too much money then they can say all right let’s sign a guard and a tackle we’ll draft I think we’re assuming they’re going to draft a tackle right they but if the mar if the guard Market is a little soft and there’s there’s better value in the

Guard market right now then the tackles are old there’s durability questions there’s not great free agents at tackle well then they could sign two guards and play ver Tucker at right tackle draft the left tackle so that’s the versatility he’s referring to but to me it’s a very very tough task you’re

You’re trying to find three starters and I’ve said this before you don’t need five all Pros on the offensive line but you need four good ones and then you can hide a fifth right but so I think Joe tippman is a good player I think Elijah

Ver Tucker is a good player who has not been able to stay healthy um you need two more really good players on the offensive line and you could say Well they’re GNA get one at number 10 but guys aren’t always ready to play when they when they get drafted so it’s tough

To say a rookie I mean we go go back to the brish Ferguson right one of the best tackles all of us have ever seen watching the Jets he really didn’t have a good rookie season there was a lot of questions he too skinny all that stuff brick brick really developed year two

Year three year four so I think it’s a really tremendous task and he’s tried he’s tried to build this line he drafted you know he drafted McKai beckon in the first round he drafted Elijah ver Tucker in the first round he signed Lan Tomlin into a monster contract like so it’s not

Like he’s ignored the position position he’s just had some misses there and they’ve had a lot of problems with injuries at that position as we saw the last couple years it’s just been injury after injury so um you know I think this is a very tall task I think having Aaron

Rogers as your quarterback helps because he can hide some of those deficiencies with the getting the ball out quick but this is um you know this is going to be tough for for Douglas to rebuild a line in a year it’s certainly a tall task and

That is something that a lot of jets fans are going to pay attention to to your point are they going to go after those guards are they going to guard and tackle the versatility and flexibility is there but like you said it all depends on that market plays out and

What the Jets do a 10 if that rookie can make an impact it’s a little bit more difficult for a tackle like you said to develop and and show immediate impact in that first year one of the other things that a lot of jets fans were talking about today was mikole harman’s comments

On the pivot podcast absolutely blasting the Jets offensive coaching staff uh blasting pretty much the entire franchise you know Brian I think a lot of jets fans have a a sour taste in their mouth when you see the guy that you signed in free agency you release him and he catches the game-winning

Touchdown pass in the Super Bowl right and and for you when you see comments like that and then you also see a guy like Thomas morstead who’s a a leader in that locker room admittedly go back at him a little bit on Twitter and S

Gardner as well how do you how do you what’s your sense there with M call Harman was it necessary for him to really blast the Jets after you just won the Super Bowl no it definitely wasn’t necessary you know I mean the worst thing that could have happened just was

Him catching that pass because no one would be talking to micle Harman right now if he hadn’t caught that pass right he wouldn’t be on the pivot podcast right he got it so he’s gonna be asked I I do think he’ll probably quiet down about the Jets now after after this I

Would suspect but yeah he really shouldn’t be talking I mean he underperformed here and he he was not very popular with the coaching staff like you know he criticized the coaching staff I think the coaching staff would go back at him pretty hard uh you know I

I know I’ve heard some stories about practices that were not good and he dropped a lot of passes he ran wrong routes that kind of stuff so it didn’t work out here I think he should probably just move on it’s like it worked out great for him right he’s got commercials

And endorsements now from the Super Bowl so I don’t understand why he’s piling on the Jets he was asked the question but to me he should probably he he was pretty good at the Super Bowl Ryan because I talked about the Super Bowl and he’s pretty good about not taking

Shots at the Jets but now he seems to have shifted most and obviously had the pivot podcast he did yeah well and then the other thing that came out of it was is saying come get me to the Chiefs and now there’s that tampering question to

Joe Douglas I know I was asked like will you invest ask the league to investigate into the situation do you sense that’s what’s goingon to happen here some smart reporter asked that question um yeah I yeah I mean Douglas said the comment resonated that was basically saying yeah we’re going to

Look into it so you know if there’s phone record of them talking they’re in trouble to me like could there be a situation where before week four when they played the Chiefs and the writing was on the wall could Hardman have said to Mahomes come get me on the field

That’s not there’s gonna be no record of that there there gonna be no tampering so it’s it’s a question of you know how much how can they prove it and I don’t think it’s a major deal you know like someone asked me earlier about comparing it to when the Dolphins went after Tom

Brady and Shawn P like that’s a whole other Stratosphere this would be a fine I think for the Chiefs and that would be it but uh yeah it’s the Jets are definitely pissed and I think they’re gonna push some buttons on this yeah especially when you’re put on blast like

That and Joe Douglas responding saying you know respect is earned it’s more about well done than well said so they well that was Deon Dawkins that was the other story of the oh that was the other story too and again Jets get blasted by a Bill’s player on another podcast jets

Are Target right now like when you lose it’s everything sucks and they’re easy they’re an easy team to make fun of they’re an easy team for players to go at and you know they at some point the Jets have to turn this around and just win some freaking games and this

Nonsense will stop I think I think but right now they they they’ve gone 13 years without making the playoffs they haven’t had a winning season since 2015 they’re an easy Mark and that seem to be the case this week is just people just taking shots at them yeah taking shots

At them and at the culture too and Joe Douglas did defend the culture a little bit today yeah I would defend the culture as well like I’ve been around a lot of locker rooms um you know I was trying to think of this today like who was the last Jets player that was

Arrested I couldn’t think of it I saw was it was it that linebacker that McKagan drafted was the DWI a long time ago the DUI you mean like in the Lincoln Tunnel yeah in the Lincoln Tunnel wasn’t that that was a long time ago I mean

Quinnon got in trouble with gun at the airport a few years ago um which was kind of seemed to be more of a misunderstanding than anything nefarious so like to me that’s a pretty good like people talk about what culture is right they’re not he’s not drafting guys who

Are getting in trouble he’s not drafting guys who were locker room problems like there’s the and signing like the guys he signed and drafted he’s got a pretty good batting arm there’s been some Knuckleheads but if they’re Knuckleheads they’re not Criminal they’re just kind of lazy or

You know in some instan have bad attitudes but overall I think the locker room is in a pretty good place um I think Aaron Rogers will help that too when he’s playing uh it’s hard to hard to influence culture when you’re not playing but I think they’ve got good

Guys like him and CJ Mosley um as old like older veteran leaders and then I think if you look at the S garders and Garrett Wilson’s and Breece halls and Germaine Johnson’s and Elijah ver Tuckers like these guys that they’ve brought in here they’re younger they’re

All really good guys and they seem to get it and so I think the Locker Room’s in a good place no I appreciate you just just just breaking that down a little bit about the culture because it does get a bad rap when you are losing like

You said just everything sucks right so it’s a chicken or the egg thing too Ryan right right does winning create good culture or does good culture create winning to me winning creates good culture like so the culture I I think there’s good players in the Jets locker

Room like good guys and stuff but once when you start losing everything sucks like they they everything about going to work sucks they there’s gonna be negativity there’s gonna be people that are just pissed off all the time that’s just the nature of losing you know but I

Don’t think they necessarily have like a really bad culture no and to your point they have good guys and they’re talented players too speaking of top picks that are good guys well let’s talk about Zach Wilson here Joe Douglas did admit to you guys that he has granted permission to him and his

Agent to seek a trade how do you see that playing out over the coming weeks as free agency is about to approach yeah I don’t think it’s anywhere close Ryan like I think we’re gonna be talking about this for months uh or probably not talking about too much but I think it’ll

Be a I I just I don’t see a team trading for him so to me the the biggest question is when do the CH when do the Jets give up and cut him uh I don’t think he’s ever going to be in the locker room again I

Think they’ll tell him to stay away like you know if they report back in April and he still hasn’t been traded I think they’ll just tell him you know stay home uh and continue to work on the trade maybe something happens around the draft

Right I maybe but I don’t know I I just I have a hard time finding a team that’s gonna take him and I think Joe Douglas would trade him for anything at this point but we’ll see if his agent can find something yeah yeah it’s going to

Be fascinating to see how that plays out with Zach Wilson if the Jets can get a deal done with you know as a trade partner and find something if not like you said we’ll see how long it plays out but Brian I know like you said a lot of

Little things but we appreciate you was always given some time talking about what’s going on with this team I know there’s going to be a lot happening over the coming weeks as free agency starts and we’re looking forward to seeing all the coverage from you man all right thanks Ryan thank you