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Saw this on the NBC Sports website –
Headline – “Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, and Jac Collinsworth discuss Aaron Glenn and the Jets starting the season 0-4, explaining why it was ‘a long-term decision’ to release Aaron Rodgers and why Glenn should ‘stay with the plan.'”
Is there anybody out there in the echo chambers willing to say – “Jets should have stuck with Rodgers for another year, the Steelers are 3-1 and the Jets are 0-4?”
That isn’t even an opinion from me; it is just a question.
If you find somebody who is saying that, please reach out to us at Jets Confidential and let us know.
In the sports media world, there are often accepted narratives on particular issues, and saying anything positive about Rodgers is not usually one of those accepted narratives.
Once again, this isn’t an opinion piece from me saying the Jets should have kept Rodgers. That is not what I’m doing here.
I’m talking more about how weird the coverage of this story is.
To me, this should almost be a 50-50 issue – half the media/talking heads saying “they should have kept him” and half the people saying “they did the right thing moving on.”
You get the sense the fans would vote this way, but people in the media essentially stand clear of even stepping their toe in the “they should have kept” Rodgers waters.
Two factors are at work here:
I don’t think reporters want to cross Aaron Glenn, who is one tough hombre. I’ve covered the Jets for 30 years, and this is the softest coverage of the Jets I have ever seen.
Secondly, most people in the media hate Rodgers, and if you say or write he’s playing well in Pittsburgh and the Jets should have kept him, you almost risk getting ostracized by your peers.
And when analysts, like the crew at NBC, say moving on was a “long-term decision,” how exactly is that particular decision helping them long-term right now?
Maybe it is, but I don’t see how. Anybody who can explain how it’s helping them “long-term,” as the NBC crew said, feel free to reach out.
Let’s be honest, the coverage of this story is weird.
Like I said, at least give us a 50-50 split in the media on this one – that would seem to make more sense . . .
It’s funny, I was just writing about this narrative yesterday, and how it’s misguided, and somebody did an opinion piece pushing this very narrative.
Headline from a website called “The Jets Press” – “Darren Mougey’s big offseason mistake is already ruining 2025 Jets.”
It was a long piece, but this one line from the writer sums up the story – “Mougey’s decision not to find a competent WR2 is killing this Jets offense.”
Not picking on writer Mike Luciano, because he has a lot of company in the Jets Nation.
But like I wrote on Thursday, I categorically disagree.
I think Mougey did a terrific job with the receiver room. The defensive talent is another story. We will get to that in a minute.
The lack of production from other receivers not named Garrett Wilson is not the fault of the receivers not named Garrett Wilson.
Once again, as Santonio Holmes once famously said during his time with the Jets, when his production was down, “I can’t throw the ball to myself.”
As for Josh Reynolds, Allen Lazard, Arian Smith, and company, they could all easily say that. They wouldn’t, but if they said it, it would make sense.
Justin Fields is an electrifying runner with a rocket arm, but has limited field vision and is generally not going through his progression – “one, two, three, checkdown.” The echo chamber can choose to ignore this, but I won’t.
Once again, I don’t blame Fields for any of his field vision shortcomings. Not one iota. It was all over the film from the first four years.
As Bill Parcells liked to say, “When a player shows you who he is, believe him.”
The argument that the Jets lack ideal complements to Wilson in the receiver room is patently false . . .
As for the defense, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer implied this week that Jets DC Steve Wilks could be on shaky grounds.
“Aaron Glenn will be fine, but the Steve Wilks question is fair.,” Breer wrote. “Remember, Glenn was in Detroit when, in Year 1 of that rebuild (2021), Dan Campbell moved swiftly to let an old friend, Anthony Lynn, go.”
I’m not going to say that Steve Wilks is doing the best job, but let’s not forget Aaron Glenn came in with the reputation as a defensive guru, so we are going to sit here in early October, and now blame Wilks for the defensive struggles? If the Chicago Bears had issues on offense, would you criticize HC/offensive guru Ben Johnson or OC Declan Doyle?
But whether you like Wilks as a DC or not, the biggest problem with the Jets’ defense is related to player personnel. They have major, major personnel issues on that side of the ball. People are quick to attack poor Michael Clemons, who is terribly miscast in the wrong scheme, but the issues go much deeper than that.
October 3, 2025
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