Jason Garrett's hot seat as Giants offensive coordinator getting hotter by the game

It is one of the most scrutinized and criticized positions in all of sports, a job with an impossibly high bar and one that rarely appeases fans. In fact, Robert Saleh boiled it down perfectly when it comes to the perception of NFL offensive coordinators.

"When things work, you’re a genius," the Jets’ coach said this week. "When they don’t, you’re an idiot."

Welcome to Jason Garrett’s world.

The Giants’ embattled offensive coordinator has been a primary target of Giants fans’ ire during their 0-3 start. And Garrett invited plenty of criticism last year, when the Giants' offense sputtered near the bottom of the league through most of the season.

The former Cowboys head coach is no stranger to being on the hot seat. And while Giants coach Joe Judge indicated earlier this week he isn’t contemplating any immediate changes to help jump-start his reeling team, the fact the question has even come up speaks to the challenge Garrett faces.

Through it all, Garrett remains focused on what he can do to help the offense do better. Coming off a 17-14 home loss to the previously winless Falcons, the Giants have scored just 56 points through three games. Only seven teams have scored fewer points.

Last season, the Giants finished with just 280 points; only the Jets (243) had fewer.

Pressure? Yes, Garrett feels it.

"Absolutely," he said Thursday. "It’s a responsibility, one that we all embrace."

Does he worry about having his play-calling duties stripped by Judge?

"I don’t really think about that," he said. "We’ve just got to get better. We come in and we work hard to do that as coaches and as players every day."

For now, his mission is to tune out the noise — and there is plenty of it from Giants fans frustrated by the team’s offensive failures.

"The biggest thing we try to do is focus on what we can do to help our team get better every day," he said. "Those are the things we talk about with our players all the time. We have to live that as coaches. There have been some positive things over the first three games, but there’s certainly plenty we have to clean up. We try to work hard as coaches, put the best plan together, we try to do a good job implementing it. We ask our players to practice it and carry it to the game. That’s the process that we’re in. That’s really what we’re focused on."

Garrett hasn’t lost the support of his players.

"I have a ton of confidence in Coach Garrett, and I know the offense does," quarterback Daniel Jones said. "It’s on us to execute those plays. Some of the breakdowns in the red zone, those are execution issues, things I have to do better, things we all have to do better on the field. We have a ton of confidence in what we’re doing on offense."

"I definitely support Coach Garrett," running back Saquon Barkley said. "It’s easy to point the finger at the coaches, [but] we have to go out there and execute the plays. We’re doing a great job of moving the ball down the field, doing well on third downs. We’re just not finishing. I think it goes hand in hand with our games, the last two games losing on last-second field goals."

But if things continue to sputter, Judge may be left with no alternative but to shake things up. And if he does decide to make a change at offensive coordinator, the likely replacement would be offensive assistant Freddie Kitchens, the former Browns coach who called plays in Cleveland.

But Judge isn’t to that point just yet, and since Garrett is still held in high regard by the organization, it may not happen immediately. To say it won’t happen at all? Never say never.

"In terms of making any radical changes," Judge said Wednesday, "we’ve got to correct some things internally and fundamentally and give ourselves a chance for success. That’s what we’re focused on right now."

Right now, the Giants are 0-3 and going nowhere. If that winless streak worsens — the Giants’ game on Sunday against the Saints is the first of seven straight against teams with winning records — Judge may be left with no choice.

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”