This might be Aaron Glenn’s reintroduction to the ceaseless dysfunction that is the New York Jets, but the majority of his roster has gone through this before, as recently as last year.
Gang Green was embarrassed by the Dallas Cowboys 37-22 in Week 5 on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium to fall to 0-5. Dak Prescott passed for four touchdowns, Javonte Williams rushed for 135 yards on just 16 carries, and the Jets once again could not keep their composure behind 10 penalties. Only four teams in the NFL have committed more than the Jets’ 42 infractions this season.
Of course, this is nothing new for a team that has led the NFL in penalties in each of the last two years.
“You don’t just hit a wand and it changes,” Glenn said. “The work has to be able to fix those things. That’s what practice is for. The same thing when it comes to turnovers and also taking the ball away. We have to work to get those things done. Nothing overcomes that. Nothing overcomes the work.”
If the on-field product suggests anything, it’s that either the work simply isn’t good enough or the players are not responding to their head coach. For all the talk of a culture shift, Glenn has yet to win a game as the Jets’ leading man, and the first half of Sunday’s game was so bad that they were booed off the field at halftime with Dallas leading 23-3.
But he continues to implore that his team is doing the right things in practice, which does not provide any sort of consolation for a tortured fan base that is already coming to terms with a 15th straight playoff miss.
“I know for a fact our players have bought into what we’re doing,” Glenn said. “That’s why I know it’s not a ‘here we go again.’ Every day we emphasize it, every day we talk about it, and we attack those things every day. I am not worried about that.”
