Following a 42-10 blowout loss to the Patriots, Jets coach Aaron Glenn questioned his players’ effort.
But a day after their fourth consecutive embarrassing loss, Glenn backtracked on his post-game comments.
“Getting a chance to look at it last night and look at it again this morning, I would say this, effort was not the issue with that game,” Glenn said. “I thought they played all the way to the very end. What really showed up is like they did some things schematically that I thought was challenging offensively and defensively that we really have to take a look at and try to hone in and try to fix those things.
“And some of their players just made plays. This is a playmaker’s league. Between the quarterback, the receivers, some of their defensive backs, and their D-Lineman. But it definitely wasn’t just total effort.”
It’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube after a coach questions a team or a player’s effort. Questioning a team’s effort is a dangerous road for any coach.
Especially one like Glenn, who is trying to build a positive foundation for a Jets organization that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010, the longest playoff drought in North American sports.
However, after signing a five-year contract to be the Jets coach in January, Glenn is expected to return in 2026. His first season with the Jets has primarily been a disaster with both sides of the ball in a state of total regression.
In four December losses, they were outscored 153-46. The Jets’ minus-107 point differential is the worst in NFL history for December, according to ESPN Research.
Just like in the Jets’ previous games against the Dolphins and Jaguars earlier this month, the Jets fell into a quick hole and couldn’t get off the mat against the Patriots. New England didn’t just defeat the Jets, they embarrassed them, with a 35-3 halftime lead.
The Jets, who fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after a 48-20 loss to Jacksonville two weeks ago, allowed the Patriots to score six touchdowns on their first six possessions of the game.
Jets linebacker Quincy Williams was astonished that the Patriots scored that many times in a row.
“Six?” he asked reporters after the game. “S—, boss.”
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Jets cornerback Brandon Stephens said. “Something that you just never want to happen. in any game. For it to be our last game in front of our fans and to put up that kind of performance, it’s definitely frustrating.”
It was so bad for the Jets that Patriot fans, who were mostly in attendance at MetLife Stadium, were chanting “M-V-P” for Drake Maye after he passed for a career-high five touchdowns.
That led Glenn to question his players’ effort following the game. But after watching the film on Sunday night and Monday morning, Glenn felt like, during the fourth quarter, many of the Jets players were still making plays on the ball.
“You saw our guys making plays,” Glenn said. “Even when it got to a point where all they were trying to do was run the ball. Our guys didn’t back down from that at all. I would say that most of the time when that happens, that’s when you have an effort issue.
“When they were running on and off the field the whole time, it was nothing about them that they were throwing up the white flag. To me, that’s the one thing I really want to look at and see how that was. Schematically, can we work some things out, absolutely. But again, our guys did not quit.”
As bad as their defense has been this month, the Jets are equally a mess offensively after starting rookie undrafted free agent Brady Cook for the previous three weeks. In four games, Cook has thrown for 679 yards with one touchdown and seven interceptions. The Jets are averaging 145.8 passing yards per game, which is the worst in the NFL.
They have been in evaluation mode, which is part of the reason Cook continues to start games. The Jets will try to salvage what has been a difficult season in their finale at Buffalo on Sunday.
“We need buy-in and stay-in,” Jets center Josh Myers said. “I’m going to stay in and prepare as hard as I can, like it’s a playoff game. And do everything I can and have faith that everyone else will as well.
