Content available exclusively for subscribers
Aaron Glenn was asked about linebacker Jamien Sherwood today. Sherwood is slated to start next to Demario Davis at inside linebacker, but is coming off a somewhat inconsistent season. The player has admitted he must improve in coverage.
“It’s always good when a player is self aware, and it’s always good when a player is his own toughest critic,” Glenn said.
Glenn thinks Davis will help Sherwood’s maturation process.
“He is a player that came from being a safety to being a linebacker, so having somebody that’s been in this league for a long time, as Demario sitting right beside him, it could only help him,” Glenn said. “So, any player that’s self-aware and will critique themselves like that on a year-to-year basis is always good.”
Full disclosure on this story. I wrote in the last issue of Jets Confidential Magazine that the Jets didn’t address one of their biggest needs in free agency and the draft, for a top-shelf coverage linebacker to play next to Davis.
This wasn’t meant to be an attack on Sherwood.
This was just based on what we saw from Sherwood in coverage last year. This is a results-based business. He wasn’t good enough in coverage last year. He is the first to admit it.
And Davis is okay in coverage, but it’s not necessarily his calling card.
Davis is a great run-stuffer, good blitzer, terrific leader, but he’s not Lavonte David in coverage. He’s not bad, but it’s not at the top of his list of strengths.
So the Jets need to partner him with an elite coverage linebacker. Based on last year’s film, it’s hard to argue that is Sherwood.
But maybe Sherwood can improve in this area in 2026. A few things that could help include having Davis as the Jets’ traffic cop on defense, who can make his fellow defenders more aware of their coverage assignments before and after the snap. There was a lot of assignment chaos before and after the snap last year on a defense loaded with young players. Davis and veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick should help cut down on these issues.
Something else that should help Sherwood in coverage is what looks like an improved Jets pass rush, at least on paper.
Not making excuses for the Jets’ back seven from last season, but man, on so many plays last season, they had to hold up in coverage forever due to a substandard pass rush.
So having Davis and Fitzpatrick as coaches on the field and helping get things organized better before and after the snap, along with having a better pass rush, will perhaps help Sherwood improve in coverage.
But the biggest thing Sherwood must improve is having more sophisticated eyes in coverage, triggering faster in coverage by reacting to his keys quicker.
Yes, Glenn mentioned he’s a former college safety who moved to linebacker in the NFL, but some might argue that after five seasons in the NFL as a linebacker, that alibi needs to be in the rearview mirror at this point. He’s been a linebacker for five years!
It’s going to be fascinating to see if the lightbulb will go on this year for Sherwood as a coverage linebacker.
His issues are certainly not due to a lack of effort.
He’s a very hard worker with great character.
But does he have the requisite coverage instincts to be the best partner for Davis at inside linebacker?
Stay turned.
It’s hard to discern that in the spring . . .
June 10, 2026
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Thursday.
