After Jets give him his first head-coaching victory, Jeff Ulbrich has a ball
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (5) catches a pass for a touchdown as Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter (4) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
On a Halloween night when many of the Jets arrived at MetLife Stadium in costume, the most heartfelt get-up was donned by punter Thomas Morstead. He rolled in wearing an old 49ers jersey with the number 53 on it — game-worn with grass stains and smudged eye black. So old it was made by Reebok, a company that hasn’t made NFL uniforms in ages. And across the back in white capital letters was the name of the player who had donned it.
Ulbrich.
As in former linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, who has, through several unforeseeable career twists, become the interim head coach of these Jets. Morstead said he got the jersey from Ulbrich’s wife and wanted to wear it as a show of support for the guy who had taken the reins of the team and not seen much success.
Then the rest of the Jets did him one better.
On a night when the Jets were in desperate need of a victory, with their season hanging in the balance and with the walls closing in on them from just about every direction, they beat the Texans, 21-13.
It was a game that will be remembered for Garrett Wilson’s two incredible one-handed catches for touchdowns, each one more stunning than the next. It was one that Malachi Corley certainly won’t forget; he nearly scored his first career touchdown but dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, which resulted in a touchback. It was a game in which Davante Adams scored his first touchdown as a Jet and Haason Reddick recorded his first sack for them.
But the most emotional element to it all was that it was Ulbrich’s first victory, and when owner Woody Johnson handed him the game ball in the locker room, he was clearly emotional about what that meant to him.
“He cried,” Sauce Gardner said. “There weren’t really any tears, though, so he cried but he didn’t cry. I’m proud of him. That’s great for him. We do it for him.”
Ulbrich still had the ball tucked under his arm when he came into the interview room to address the media after the game, and although he flipped it to senior vice president of communications Eric Gelfand while answering questions, he again gripped it tightly when he re-entered the locker room.
“It’s special from the standpoint of this team,” Ulbrich said. “I feel like one of my strengths is to block out the outside noise, but it gets loud, and this team took a lot of shots externally. The way they stayed together and worked and kept a positive attitude and galvanized as a unit, I’m really proud of them.”
Ulbrich wasn’t just a bystander, either. He was the one who threw the red challenge flag that allowed the second Wilson touchdown to count. Ulbrich said he wasn’t sure if Wilson’s leg had come down in bounds, as was ultimately decided, but he knew it was close enough to take a chance.
In his first game as a head coach, he had fumbled that very same challenge flag. On Thursday, his timely use of it was a big reason for the win.
There obviously were other parts that he has been responsible for, too, since taking over for his friend, Robert Saleh, on Oct. 8 and retaining his role as defensive play-caller. Perhaps none has been more important or as well-regarded by the players as his determination to maintain positivity even in the face of debilitating losses in his first three games.
“It’s hard to stick with your process and to hang together when you are not getting results,” said Morstead, who wore his Ulbrich throwback after the game as well. “This felt really good and it was really nice to get Brich his first head-coaching win. I’m sure it was the culmination of a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to this point.”
The players certainly recognized that.
“It starts with him, the energy he brings to the practice field every day with us and just the love and regard he has in getting us to band together,” tackle Morgan Moses said.
dded Wilson: “To get him his first win and be a part of it, I know how we all felt about it, and he deserves it because the messages have been real, the messages have been great every week. To go and get him a W, it felt good for sure.”
Ulbrich said the souvenir game ball will go in his office.
“That’s a special one for me just because of what it represents with this team,” he said.
Ulbrich probably didn’t need the football for that, though. Aaron Rodgers, who seemed a bit upset that he couldn’t hand the reward to Ulbrich himself in the locker room and had to take a back seat to, you know, the actual owner, already had given a better gift to the interim coach.
“Jeff has been really steady and it’s been a few weeks in the making, but I told him after the [Adams] touchdown, ‘That was for you, buddy,’ ” Rodgers said of the 37-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-10 late in the fourth quarter.
Was he dedicating to him the touchdown or the win?
“Both,” Rodgers said. “We love him, we care about him, we appreciate the energy he brings to this. That’s just the kind of man he is.”
And now he is the kind of man who has an NFL win on his forever record, too.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.