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Memo to the moral victory crowd coming out of the Jets’ 23-10 loss to Baltimore – did you see the Ravens yesterday?
Bengals 32-Ravens 10,
True, Joe Burrow returned which gave Cincinnati a boost, but the Bengals defense, which has been a horror show most of this season, looked like ’85 Bears against a diminished Lamar Jackson (ankle, knee, hamstring) and that offense.
There are no moral victories in the NFL. The Jets lost to a pedestrian Ravens team – end of story. We aren’t grading on a curve here . . .
Aaron Glenn is done comparing the Jets rebuild to Detroit.
Steve Serby, New York Post: “Aaron, your first year in Detroit, are you at a comparable stage in your rebuilding here as it was back in Detroit your first year?”
“Well, I’ll be honest with you, and I respect the question, but man I have turned the page from that a while ago,” Glenn said. “And I understand how there are some comparisons, because I’ve made comparisons, but man I am so locked in on what we’re doing now.”
Not sure when the page was turned, but it’s good to hear, because it was brought up quite a bit.
So there will be no more Detroit rebuild references by the coach . . .
One of the problems with football coverage these days is that people will see a big play from a player, and that will be the centerpiece of the view of that player, not all his plays.
An example of that is with Jowon Briggs.
He had the Jets’ only sack in their loss to Baltimore, a very nice play where he beat guard Andrew Vorhees to end a second-quarter series. At 6-1, he did a nice job of dipping under the pad level of a much taller lineman, the 6-6 Vorhees.
There is no doubt Briggs has made some nice plays, but in between those highlights, you are seeing a player who needs some work.
The first of Derrick Henry’s two TD runs was in the Briggs area, with the defensive tackle being handled by Roger Rosengarten.
Briggs and the rest of the D-Line were not good in New England, not just against the run, but like we said the other day, QB Drake Maye looked like he was operating a 7-on-7 drill, with an eternity to throw on many plays.
In Cincinnati, the Jets’ defense had a rough day. On the Bengals’ first series, running back Chase Brown scored on a 22-yard TD up the middle, right into a gap created because Briggs and fellow DT Peyton Page could not get off blocks.
Look, Briggs has been okay, but while the Cleveland Browns are having issues fixing their QB situation, they certainly have done a good job building a great defense, and in late August, Jim Schwartz and company decided Briggs was expendable and traded him to the Jets.
Do you think teams are in the business of giving away defensive tackles who they feel they can help them?
Look, the point of this post isn’t to attack Briggs, who is a nice fourth defensive tackle to have around, and has great character – good locker room guy.
He’s a nice role player, but not a starter. Rotational player. After the Quinnen Williams trade, he’s been starting.
But for goodness’ sake, can we stop putting people in Canton based on highlight film plays, and look at the entire body of work?
Jeez . . .
On Wednesday, Aaron Glenn said about injured defensive tackle Harrison Phillips:
“When it comes to injuries, the only person of note is Harrison (Phillips), but I expect him to be a part of practice going into the later part of this week, so he’ll be just fine.”
I know this is coach-speak, but I can assure he will not be “just fine.”
The guy is a warrior, but he’s hobbling around bad on a messed-up foot. After the Jets’ loss in New England, this is what he discovered after he left the cold tub –
“I realized I can’t really walk,” Phillips said.
So he’s not going to be “fine” but he’s likely going to play, perhaps with the aid of a Toradol shot. Many players like to take these anti-inflammatory shots right before games. Not sure if Phillips is doing this, but many players do, but it sounds like he might be.
“I love this game a lot,” Phillips said. “I’m willing to do drastic things for the game. With the passions and emotions and adrenaline that comes with a football game with some modern medicine, I can get away doing it.” . . .
Glenn talks a lot about building a foundation this year, so he was recently asked, “Are the wins now an important part of that foundation as well?”
“Wins are always important,” Glenn said. “We’re always trying to win, but we also understand that there is a foundation we’re trying to build.”
The Jets are 2-9 right now, so the “trying to win” part clearly isn’t working out great. As for the foundation, we will find out soon enough.
Like I have said many times, including in this article – I will not grade on curve. This is the NFL, not a developmental league.
They are 2-9.
As Bill Parcells often said, “You are what your record says you are.”
November 28, 2025
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