Joe Douglas was worth the drubbing Christopher Johnson took

Christopher Johnson did not have any visible bruises or welts when he introduced Joe Douglas as the new Jets general manager on Tuesday.

It would not have been surprising if he did. After all, he has taken a beating over the last month.

Johnson’s decision to fire Mike Maccagnan brought a swift and predictable reaction. The Jets were ridiculed — the circus was back in town, dysfunction was back, same old Jets — and Johnson was the one who took the most hits. He was portrayed as a clueless rich guy who was bamboozled by coach Adam Gase in a power struggle.

But what if Johnson got this right?

It is a question I found myself asking as I listened to Douglas’ impressive introductory press conference and as I’ve spoken to people around the league about Douglas. The new GM is not just one of Gase’s buddies that he picked so he could have total control. Yes, they have a close relationship, but Douglas has more to his resume than just being on Gase’s contact list.

If Douglas had not been hired by the Jets now, he would have been on the list of nearly every team looking for a GM this January. Just look at the reaction on Friday night when the Texans fired GM Brian Gaine and the Jets had not yet announced the hiring of Douglas. There was speculation that Houston could swoop in and steal Douglas.

When is the last time the Jets had an executive another team coveted?

Johnson deserves some credit instead of the vitriol that has been thrown his way. He saw a problem in the organization and he fixed it. He realized Gase and Maccagnan were incompatible and made a move.

The timing was not perfect. You can argue Johnson should have fired Maccagnan in December along with coach Todd Bowles before the GM oversaw free agency and the draft.

That is all fair. But no one should question Johnson’s desire to win. That was what this move was about. He had reservations about Maccagnan at the end of last year that only grew as he worked closely with him during the coaching search in January. Then, he saw problems in free agency and around the NFL Draft. Maccagnan is a good man who was well-liked. The decision could not have been an easy one for Johnson and that likely is why it took him until May to make it.

The Jets don’t get the benefit of the doubt. They have not won anything in 50 years and have not been to the playoffs in almost a decade. So, the decision was immediately criticized. A month removed, though, it makes more sense. No one argued Maccagnan should have been kept on the merits of what he did as the Jets GM. The issue was the timing of his firing.

Now, Douglas looks and sounds like a leader who can work together with Gase to get the Jets to where they and all their fans want to go and become a perennial contender with Sam Darnold as their quarterback.

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“We’re going to find passionate people that love the game of football, that hate losing more than they love winning, that love to prepare, that love to practice, that love to compete,” Douglas said on Tuesday.

Douglas and Gase will put an emphasis on bringing high-character players into the locker room, something that has not been a true priority of the Jets since Eric Mangini left a decade ago. Douglas also gave a quote that should be music to Jets’ fans ears.

“This is a game of wills and we’re going to try to build a team that can impose their will on other teams,” he said. “To do that, you have to be strong up front, not just the offensive line but the defensive line.”

The Jets have ignored the offensive line for too long. It sounds like that is about to change.

Now, it is only June. Talk and press conferences are great, but we are three months away from seeing the Jets on the field and probably a year way from truly seeing what kind of impact Douglas can have on the roster.

Still, it feels like the Jets have a unified front again. It feels like they are heading in the right direction.

Maybe Christopher Johnson actually does know what he’s doing.

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