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There are a lot of bloviating windbags giving hot takes these days on myriad sports shows whose opinions are best taken with a grain of salt.
But then there are old-school reporters, who take a more measured approach, based on pragmatism and research, whose words mean a lot more.
ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio is one of those guys.
So he’s like E.F. Hutton. When he talks, people listen.
This is what he said on ESPN on Tuesday:
“We really didn’t expect in Week 4 that Aaron Glenn’s team would be this undisciplined,” Paolantonio said. “We thought by this time, that they would not be making the kind of easy mistakes that are avoidable even for a young team.”
Some would argue that it is a fair, even-keeled way to assess the current state of the Jets.
Nobody expected Florham Park to be built in a day, but many didn’t expect some of what we have seen either.
My position on Glenn was simple and consistent in the off-season and entering the season. The position was I don’t know about the X’s and O’s and game management would look like. With any new head coach, that’s always a mystery out of the gate. But I believed, from jump street, he would be an alpha dog leader of men, hold players accountable, and have a tough, disciplined team.
You could argue the team is tough, but so far they are not particularly disciplined, and as for being held accountable, it’s hard to tell.
Look, I’m not in meetings, so I don’t know what he’s saying to individual players, but Michael Clemons continues to commit costly penalties, and let people take the edge on runs to his side (like Baker Mayfield’s key 33-yard scramble in the fourth quarter), and Glenn continues to roll with him.
I’m not looking to single out Clemons, because in this defense, he has plenty of company, and I don’t blame him for being a bad fit at 4-3 end, because he is better served as a 3-4 end as a two-gapper. He’s a bad scheme fit. That isn’t his fault. He gives you everything he’s got. This is more of a scouting deal.
But you could argue, so far, we are not seeing much more discipline or accountability, at least on game day, than the previous regime.
That isn’t meant as a cheap shot at Glenn and his staff, just an assessment based on what we have seen so far.
“I go by what I see, fellas,” Bill Parcells, one of Glenn’s mentors, liked to say.
As for accountability, in the Jets’ loss to Miami, kick and punt returner Isaiah Williams had a fumbled kickoff and downed a punt on the two, which is a no-no.
Glenn was asked about these mistakes on Tuesday.
“He made two critical mistakes, and I understand that, but they’re also mistakes that he has to learn from. So, I’m not going to sit here and say that he’s going to lose his job over that. Listen, he has to get better,” Glenn said.
Look, I’m not calling for the Jets to cut Williams. As I have said before, I never fired coaches or GMs or call for players to be cut in print. These are men (and women) with families, mortgages. I don’t mess with other people’s ability to make a living in print.
But the quote struck me in this regard:
They cut Xavier Gipson after fumbling in the opener, and now a returner has an even worse game, with two errors, including a fumble, but now the narrative is – “Listen, he’s has to get better?”
Why wasn’t Gipson given that opportunity?
Once again, not calling for Williams to be cut, just wondering if there is a slight double standard at work here.
Some might argue that a double standard is at work here on the accountability front – Gipson loses his job, but people like Clemons and Williams don’t.
Double-standards don’t fly in the locker room.
Look, it’s still early, and it’s not fair to judge Glenn too harshly after four games. We are in the embryonic stage of his program.
But as “Sal Pal” pointed out, while nobody expected everything to be great right out of the gate, “We really didn’t expect in Week 4 that Aaron Glenn’s team would be this undisciplined.”
So even within the framework of the program reboot with a new staff, you could argue the accountability and discipline need to go up a notch, whether you are winning or losing.
For instance, when you put a 6-1, 236-pound bruising back with average speed and cutting ability as a kick returner. Somebody needs to be held accountable for that.
October 1, 2025
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