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“Mr. Johnson, I’m Dianna Russini, from The Athletic.”
“Oh, you’re the one who wrote that article. You killed me.”
This was my first face-to-face conversation with Jets owner Woody Johnson since my colleagues and I published that story 10 months ago.
That deep dive into the Jets’ dysfunction included the unforgettable detail that Johnson’s teenage sons were giving their dad feedback on players based on Madden ratings.
But to his credit, Johnson didn’t turn down my request for some time. He didn’t dodge the conversation or offer a PR-filtered smile before vanishing behind a hotel door. He stayed, he talked and he wanted to be heard as we spoke after the NFL’s fall league meetings in midtown Manhattan. Hours earlier, Johnson had told a group of reporters that he stood behind his first-year head coach, Aaron Glenn. Then he took a not-so-subtle swipe at his quarterback, saying if the Jets offense could “just complete a pass, it would look good.” Yikes.
So, as he made his way out of the InterContinental, I offered him the chance to clarify his criticism of Justin Fields.
Stick with me, it gets better.
Because I didn’t spend 48 hours pacing (and occasionally sprinting) around the hotel lobby, powered by bad coffee and worse lighting, just to talk about a team that has yet to win a game … and Johnson wasn’t the only owner talking. There were real conversations happening about head coaches, quarterbacks, trades and the state of the league.
Here’s what I heard on:
- Why it’s always dramatic in Philadelphia
- Jerry Jones’ trade deadline plans
- Woody Johnson on the record
- The 10-day sprint to the trade deadline
- Jimmy Haslam’s Shedeur Sanders experience
- Mark Davis not moving his star
- Goff guff gone too far
- An intriguing potential head coaching candidate
A.J. Brown’s frustration is loud, but Jeffrey Lurie’s message is louder
The defending Super Bowl champs are getting phone calls and interest in wide receiver A.J. Brown, but for now, the Eagles want him on their team.
That’s despite Brown’s ongoing social media gripes after wins and losses, including his latest after a 121-yard, two-touchdown performance in a win over the Vikings, when he captioned his Instagram photos with: “using me but not using me.”
Translation: The Eagles are using him when they are in trouble, but not involving him consistently enough for his liking.
He’s clearly losing patience.
Brown — who will miss Week 8 with a hamstring injury — is loved in the Eagles’ locker room and even has a lengthy personal history with his quarterback, Jalen Hurts, but it’s obvious something has changed between the two on the field. The Eagles will say everything is fine, but many around the league can see it plainly on the film.
An opposing defensive coach said he actually understands Brown’s frustration.
“Hurts struggles against zone,” he said. “That’s when A.J. goes MIA. There are times it looks like Hurts doesn’t fully trust what he’s seeing, so he checks it down and plays it safe. It’s either a deep shot or a checkdown — not much in between. The timing is just off. And you can see it on the field — the communication between Hurts and Brown just isn’t there right now.”
The question is inevitable: If Brown continues to seem miserable in the final 10 days before the trade deadline, does something have to change?
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown caught two touchdown passes against the Vikings, but that didn’t end the drama. (Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images)
I asked Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie what he would do if Brown knocked on his door and asked for a trade. His answer was firm, team-first and championship-minded.
“We do what’s best for the team,” he said. “We don’t even consider it seriously unless it’s best for the Eagles. We will always do what gives us the best chance of winning big. Everything else is secondary.”
Bottom line: Brown can be frustrated all he wants, but this team plays for the ring first. However, GM Howie Roseman will always listen, and if the Eagles get an exorbitant offer? Nobody is untradable in Philadelphia.
So why do the Eagles, a team that, on paper, might have one of the top rosters in football, always seem to have internal conflict?
“It’s not conflict. It’s intensity,” Lurie said. “The players respect it. I like intensity. The players are intense. Howie’s intense, I’m intense, the coach is intense. Every week, every situation, we approach it with intensity.”
Lurie, Roseman and Nick Sirianni are among the architects of a locker room that may appear combustible to the outside, but is constructed this way for a reason.
“We encourage it. We want different personalities,” Lurie said. “Sometimes, in trades or in free agency, we’ll bring people in that complement those that we have. They’re different on purpose. We don’t want sameness.”
Lurie believes Sirianni holds a key role in Philadelphia’s operation.
“He is one of the best connectors in sports,” he said.
Now, Sirianni may have one of his biggest challenges: To find a way to make it work on the field between Jalen and A.J.
If that’s possible …
Jerry on Pickens, Parsons and pass rushers
While the Cowboys have let teams know they’re open for business before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, Jerry Jones told me they never reached out to the Raiders about Maxx Crosby.
So I asked Jones if he could add one player right now, who would it be?
He paused. Grinned. Leaned in.
“I would say, without incriminating any area of it,” he said, “it would be a defensive player. But not a pass rusher.”
Of course, that’s the position that’s haunted Dallas since they traded Micah Parsons. When I brought up Parsons’ monster game in Arizona last Sunday, Jerry didn’t flinch.
“I expected that,” he said. “When I made the trade, I thought both sides would do well — us with (defensive tackle Kenny) Clark and the picks, and him up there. We both have good days, and we have our picks.”
And he made it clear, it wasn’t personal.
“The numbers got Micah,” he said. “Not me. He’s elite, but we were better off with numbers of players. It had nothing to do with contracts or agents. I’d love to have Micah plus everything I got. But I can’t. That’s the cap.”
Jones believes the answers to Dallas’ defensive problems are internal. Not in a blockbuster trade. Not in a coordinator change, as he strongly backed defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
Dallas is 3-3-1. Dak Prescott is performing at an MVP level behind a patchwork offensive line, and receiver George Pickens is a star. For those who forgot, Pittsburgh moved on from Pickens after multiple outbursts and frustration with his role. Even at Georgia, he had a reputation for being a handful, so why is he working out in Dallas?
“Maybe expectation,” Jones said. “If someone can appreciate what we’re bringing to the table, and we expect some things you’ve got to deal with, then when they pop up, it doesn’t hurt your expectation. It’s when you didn’t expect it that you say, ‘My goodness, it’s not what I thought it would be.’”
Jerry knew what he was getting and he trusted Prescott’s leadership.
“Dak’s a Pied Piper,” he said. “Coaches were following him down the hallway when he visited us before the year we drafted him. That’s real leadership. That’s why he’s playing so well. He knows he’s been relied on, and he accepts it.”
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens has had an impressive opening seven games, thanks in part to quarterback Dak Prescott. (Scott Kinser / Imagn Images)
Before we wrapped, I asked about head coach Brian Schottenheimer, a hire I admitted to the owner I was skeptical of at first because I thought it was a way for Jones to further control his team.
He didn’t get defensive. He got nostalgic.
“There’s value in someone who’s never done it before,” he said. “They have something to prove. He’d been around the best staffs — all that osmosis. It’s like having a coach who’s been a head coach five times, but never got the title. That gives him juice.”
Jerry compared Schottenheimer to Jimmy Johnson, not in resume but in drive.
“It’s glorious after the game when you’ve won and you’re having that beer,” he said, smiling. “But to get there, it’s hard. Competitive. Those big highs? You live off those forever.”
Speaking of highs, Dallas can creep above the .500 mark for the first time since Oct. 13, 2024, with a win at altitude in Denver. Then Jones could really have a playoff push on his hands.
About that Woody Johnson catch-up …
Johnson disagreed with the tenor of our December article, saying: “I think it was so off-pace in terms of who I am and what I am, and what I represent, and my background and my history that I just didn’t pay any attention to it. It’s aggravating when things like that are written that don’t portray me the way people think of me, the way I think of myself.”
So I asked him: What, in your mind, makes you a good owner?
“Well, I’m obviously not a good owner in terms of winning,” he said. “I think the players can relate to me in some ways, even though I don’t have their background. I have a certain amount of empathy, I think, that they can feel. I can’t be them. I don’t have their background. I didn’t grow up in their neighborhood. There’s no way I can completely understand what they went through and their life. But I think they know that I’m an understanding person. I’m willing to listen to anybody to tell me anything they want to tell me. I’m willing to listen to their ideas, too.”
In January, after hiring Glenn, Johnson admitted he needed to be a better owner. He finished last in the NFLPA’s annual player survey, in which he received the only “F” grade in the ownership category — a grade he pushed back on at the owners’ meetings in March, mind you. But in the aftermath of that survey and other criticism he’s received, Johnson upgraded the players’ locker room in Florham Park, N.J., and handed out significant contracts to three homegrown players: Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jamien Sherwood.
It’s obvious that Johnson is trying to improve things. He is embracing — literally — Glenn and the way he wants to run this team. But for now, the Jets continue to flounder — and Johnson points to QB play as the reason why.
Woody Johnson says he literally hugs Aaron Glenn every week and tells him he believes in him.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 21, 2025
“To play complementary football, you have to pass and you have to run,” Johnson told me. “It’s not very complicated. And if you can’t do one, the defense can come in and play you differently. I mean, they load the box, they put 11 guys in the box and rush everybody. (Fields) was sacked (a lot) because they knew he wasn’t going to pass. When they know it, that’s the way it is. It’s not brain surgery.”
League sources tell me the following about the trade deadline:
- The Jaguars are listening on calls for WR Brian Thomas Jr., even if a move feels highly unlikely. They’re also shopping for defense.
- The Ravens, Colts, Lions and Rams are making calls for a corner.
- The Steelers are making calls about adding a wide receiver.
- The Broncos are monitoring the tight end market.
- Last week, I reported that the Titans were listening to offers for any player not named Cam Ward or Jeffery Simmons. One name catching the eye of multiple teams, I’m told? Cornerback Roger McCreary, who is in the final year of his rookie deal.
- The Bengals are still not planning on moving Trey Hendrickson.
- Keep an eye on the Jets; teams have been showing interest in DT Quinnen Williams, although New York’s asking price is massive.
- The Bills are looking for help at safety and wide receiver.
- Barring an unforeseen change, the Saints are not expected to move WR Chris Olave despite interested suitors. Last week, I reported that the two sides are discussing an extension.
Jimmy Haslam on Shedeur, Stefanski and the deadline
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is no stranger to managing different types of personalities. And he gets to see a side of Shedeur Sanders that fans and media don’t.
“Listen, he’s a serious football player, and inside the building, there’s no noise,” Haslam told me. “He comes to work every day just like everybody else, and he’s trying to get better as a football player.”
Haslam said he’s been excited watching his defense return to its 2023 form, allowing just six points in a rout of the Dolphins last week, but he is looking for the offense to take a step up heading into a Week 8 matchup with the Patriots in New England.
About that matchup: A lot of eyes are on Mike Vrabel’s ties to Cleveland, where he spent a year on Kevin Stefanski’s staff before taking the New England job. But the connections run deeper between Vrabel and Browns DC Jim Schwartz, who spent 2021 and 2022 as a senior defensive assistant on Vrabel’s Titans staff.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, owner Jimmy Haslam and GM Andrew Berry mingle during training camp. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
The last thing I asked Haslam about regarded the future of his two-time Coach of the Year. It’s clear that Haslam believes in Stefanski’s ability to lead his locker room.
“Kevin’s done a really good job with us, and we’ve had some tough breaks,” Haslam said, referencing the megadeal that brought Deshaun Watson to Cleveland. “… A big trade we made didn’t work out, and you know, we’re all suffering from that. Kevin, I thought, really did a great job of rallying the troops last week at a really critical time. You find out about leaders when things are bad, not when they’re good, and he did a good job last week.”
Viva Las Vegas (Raiders)
No, the Raiders are not trading Maxx Crosby.
Yes, the team just got smoked 31-0 by the archrival Chiefs. But Raiders owner Mark Davis isn’t rushing to judgment, even as he’s paying offensive coordinator Chip Kelly the highest salary of any OC in football.
“It’s too early to be making these harsh reality decisions,” Davis told me.
Davis has a blueprint for this kind of patience; look no further than his other team, the Las Vegas Aces. Early in their most recent season, the Aces were crushed by 53 points at home. Their eventual response? Sixteen straight wins to close the WNBA regular season and another championship banner for Davis’ collection. Now, he hopes that the same model — hire the right people, let them do their jobs, trust the process — can translate to his beloved Raiders team led by Pete Carroll.
“Results are what speak to me, and we’re in the middle of the season,” Davis said.
And what about Geno Smith’s future as QB1? That, Davis said, is up to Carroll and GM John Spytek to decide as the 2-5 Raiders regroup during their bye week.
Jared Goff doesn’t get enough love
Lions quarterback Jared Goff is firing on all cylinders. So why isn’t the league noticing?
“It’s been hard for people to get past the fact that Sean McVay got rid of him. That’s why people thought he wasn’t good. But they need to move on and see what he’s doing now,” a high-ranking league source told me.
The numbers tell the story. Detroit ranks near the top of the league in points per game (30.7). Yet in conversations about elite quarterbacks, Goff slips through the cracks.
Yes, Dan Campbell deserves credit. The well-caffeinated force of nature has turned around this franchise alongside GM Brad Holmes, and a big part of that was restoring confidence in his QB. Their faith in him helped change his own belief.
This isn’t the same Jared Goff who shrank under Super Bowl pressure years ago. And it’s time people noticed.
‘An aimless program’ in Miami
I’m told that embattled Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has not lost the vast majority of Miami’s locker room despite a 1-6 start. However, as we have seen play out in press conferences, his relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa needs work if the Dolphins hope to right the ship Sunday in Atlanta — and beyond.
As one NFL GM explained, “Miami needs a fresh start. They never really developed and drafted well enough. They put Band-Aids on the roster and no progress. Mike’s not a bad coach. It’s just an aimless program … not a program that can be sustained.”
Final thoughts
- I’m told that representatives for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian have let NFL decision-makers know that he would be interested in potential head-coaching openings, including the Titans’.
- Pittsburgh has Aaron Rodgers on a one-year deal, but the Steelers would love to have him back next season.
- The Colts and Daniel Jones have yet to discuss an extension. Jones, the QB of the AFC’s lone one-loss team, signed a one-year, $14 million deal in March.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this. People-watching remains one of my favorite activities. There’s no better stage than a hotel lobby full of billionaires. My takeaway? Entourage size doesn’t matter. The best owners roll alone. No assistants. No buddies. No security guards. Lurie, Clark Hunt, Jed York and even Jerry Jones walked by themselves. Power doesn’t need a parade.
Speaking of parades, I’ll be working on my sons’ Halloween costumes while watching Week 8. Today, ghosts. Tomorrow, dinosaurs. By Halloween, pirates. You think football is unpredictable? All parents know: Keeping up with a toddler’s wardrobe requests may be harder than repeating a Cam Ward play call.
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