Robert Saleh and the lessons learned by a first-year NFL coach

Robert Saleh has lost about 25 pounds this season, which for many of us would be a good thing. Not so much for Saleh, one of the NFL’s most physically fit head coaches.

"I’ve got to get that back," he said with a smile on Friday before the Jets’ final practice of the season.

To what does he attribute the weight loss? Stress, maybe, what with the Jets being 4-12?

Turns out in his case, dropping pounds has more to do with not lifting pounds.

"I haven’t been able to get into the weight room as much as I want to," Saleh said. "I don’t eat as much as I normally would. It’s a little bit of everything."

Consider it another part of the learning process for the first-year head coach, who at times has seemed powerless to make his team competitive and at other times has given fans hope he could work out after all.

After Sunday’s finale against the Bills, there will not be much more data until September. But Saleh believes the experience has positioned him and his players well for the near future.

"It’s been a roller coaster, but it’s been a roller coaster that we were expecting," he said. "You don’t really know until you’re actually in it."

One lesson that has hit home is the emotional baggage attached to a franchise that has not played in the Super Bowl since 10 years before Saleh was born.

"When you talk to the people around, talk to you [reporters], talk to fans, the scars run pretty deep," he said. "You’re trying to absorb it all and you’re trying to understand it. But at the same time, there’s a lot of confidence in this building in the direction we’re going."

Saleh said he and general manager Joe Douglas are "really excited" about the foundation that has been built.

"It has not been smooth by any sense of the imagination, which I think we all can agree on," Saleh said. "But I think there’s been tremendous steps . . . That’s why this game [Sunday], along with the offseason, is really exciting, and so it’s going to be a fun, fun next few months."

The Jets are well-positioned in terms of draft picks and salary-cap space, so Douglas’ work will be crucial.

Saleh said he has learned in previous stops, most recently with the 49ers, the importance of GM-coach relationships.

"I think one thing that you could take from teams all over the league who have success is when the front office and the coaching staff communicate to the level we do and see things exactly the same," he said, "you’re more likely to have success in this league than where there’s friction between the two."

While COVID-19 complications have been a challenge for Saleh — including missing a game himself while under quarantine — he said he was better positioned than first-year coaches who dealt with virus protocols last season.

"I think 2020 kind of really made everybody immune to it," he said. "This season, going virtual was seamless."

Notes & quotes: Braxton Berrios (quadriceps) was placed on IR, but fellow receiver Jamison Crowder (calf) is set to return . . . Rookie running back Michael Carter: "When you look all the way back at when we played the Panthers [in the opener], I’m not even the same player. I think I had 6 yards in that game. That’s like, wow, I still can’t believe that. I’ve grown so much . . . I’m working every day to be the best in the league, because that is my ultimate goal."

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.