Overview
- Friday, Monken told reporters that during his 2019 interview with the Jets a team executive told him, “Don’t ever forget that you’re a Mercedes…you can’t control if they wanted a Lexus.”
- Monken interviewed for the Jets’ 2019 head-coaching job but the organization hired Adam Gase instead, a decision sources say split the front office at the time.
- Gase finished his Jets tenure with a 9-23 record and drew criticism for failing to develop quarterback Sam Darnold, an outcome critics use to judge New York’s 2019 choice.
- Monken returned to the Browns this season as head coach after stops as Cleveland’s offensive coordinator in 2019, as Georgia’s coordinator and with the Baltimore Ravens, and early coverage credits him with improving the team and quarterback Deshaun Watson.
- The remark has renewed discussion about the Jets’ 2019 hiring process and sets an emotional backdrop for Sunday’s Week 5 meeting that could deepen scrutiny of past front-office decisions.