FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Woody Johnson sacked the top football man in his organization Monday and he responded by impersonating the New York Jets' offense:

A no-show.

Johnson hid behind a press release, avoiding the spotlight. This was one of his biggest decisions in 13 years as the Jets' owner, firing general manager Mike Tannenbaum, and Johnson was nowhere to be seen. All you got were canned quotes from a statement.

Woody Johnson, by letting a press release do all his talking, only created more uncertainty Monday. AP Photo/David Drapkin

After such a lousy season, and after dumping a loyal employee who gave 16 years to the organization, Johnson owed it to the fans to be out front, explaining the decision, answering questions and taking charge after a second straight non-playoff year.

But there was no news conference, even though Johnson was at the Jets' facility. Talk about ironic. On one of the biggest news days of the year, the team with the loud-mouth reputation went curiously silent.

One hour after e-mailing the Tannenbaum-is-gone press release, the Jets announced that Rex Ryan's end-of-the-season news conference -- scheduled for 4:45 p.m. -- was cancelled. By doing so, they invited speculation about Ryan's future.

Does anybody find that unusual -- the coach and the owner hiding out on a day on which the GM is fired?

This smelled like week-old fish. Suddenly, one of the media-friendly coaches in the league wasn't available? The team never gave a good reason for it, saying only that it was an "organizational decision."

The Jets can't even get a firing right. All they did was create the perception that Ryan might not be on board with the program.

Oh, sure, Johnson said in his statement that Ryan "will remain the head coach of our football team." Interestingly, he saved that for the fourth paragraph, burying part of the lead.

According to several players, Ryan stood in front of the team Monday morning and declared he'd be back. He should've stood in front of the media and said the same thing. Yes, he said it last Friday and he reiterated it after Sunday's game, insisting he wanted to be back. But that was before they canned his GM, the man who hired him.

The landscape has changed.

Ryan will be in a precarious position next season, working for a new GM with only two years left on his contract. In other words, he probably will be fired next year if he doesn't make the playoffs. Losing Tannenbaum, though not unexpected, is a blow to Ryan.