A New York Jets reporter denied another reporter’s claim that head coach Robert Saleh and owner Woody Johnson got into a “very heated conversation” at the NFL’s owners meetings.
Colleen Wolfe said on NFL Network’s Around The NFL that Saleh and Johnson had a “lively conversation” at a party in Orlando on Sunday night. Wolfe wouldn’t label it an argument, instead describing it as a “lively conversation” that got “super awkward.”
However, SNY’s Connor Hughes offered a different account. Hughes, who attended a party at the meetings earlier this week, said he witnessed no confrontation.
Johnson eventually left to take the Jets contingent to dinner. A source told Hughes that nothing happened there either.
“Robert Saleh’s been grilled after gut-wrenching losses on the podium with fastball after fastball these last three years. Never once has he lost his cool. He receives justified criticism for a lot, but he always keeps [his] composure publicly,” Hughes noted. “You guys really think he’s gonna blow up at the owner of his team at a party filled with every GM, HC & owner in NFL … along with every reporter covering those teams?”
Wolfe joked that they could have been debating “how they liked their steak cooked” during the passionate exchange. Hughes also challenged that point, sharing that no steak was served at the party.
“Carving station prime rib. It was good,” Hughes shared. “Better was the make-your-own poke bowl station, along with fried cheese cake & pistachio ice cream.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who pointed out that Johnson owns a stake in NFL Media, believes Hughes was discussing a larger reception on Monday night where it’d be “impossible” to keep track of two people the entire time. Wolfe initially said the “heated conversation” occurred Monday before clarifying that it happened Sunday, so the conflicting reports could be referencing two different events.