Jets have serious problems with leaks. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers complained about it last year, and he was asked about it again Wednesday — a week after a leak suggested owner Woody Johnson bench Rodgers after Week 4.
Does Rogers think that leaks are still a problem?
“One hundred percent yes,” Rodgers told reporters.
So how does he fix it?
“I think, you know, it starts with finding out what they are and stopping it,” Rogers said.
Rodgers said last year, regarding a leak that quarterback Jack Wilson was reluctant to play when the team tried to bench him, “I think it’s Chickenshit at its coreAnd I think it has no place in a winning organization,” Rogers said.
Finding leaks and closing them is easier said than done. (It’s ridiculously simple to put it this way. “Aaron, how do you detonate a bomb?” . . . “I think, you know, it starts with finding the bomb and figuring out how to defuse it.”)
It is human nature to be tempted to expose employees of dysfunctional organizations. The best defense of mobility comes from running an operation that is performing well at every level.
It helps recruit and retain employees with the ability to resist the temptation to leak. During his Tuesday interview with Pat McAfee, Rogers expressed confusion (again) about individuals’ motivations for sharing sensitive information with outsiders. Even when things are going well, certain people will expect to curry favor with reporters and/or, at the most basic level, act like big shots because they know things.
One way to detect leaks is to leak false information to specific people and see what happens next. Remember the 2018 report Condoleezza Rice was the candidate Browns coach? Some still believe it was part of an attempt to smoke a Cleveland liqueur.
Still, it’s impossible to plug all leaks. And in a market like New York, where so many people are trying to get insiders to speak up, it becomes even more difficult to make sure everyone shuts up.
