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Many outside the building surmised throughout the off-season and summer that Aaron Glenn is in the hot seat this year.
Not sure this was based on anything aside from pure speculation based on them going 3-14 in his first year. Not sure there is any veracity to that narrative.
The only people who can put him on the hot seat are the likes of Woody, Chris, Ira, and Hymie, and there is zero information out there that they view him as a hot-seat coach.
But let’s say you believe that Glenn is on the hot seat, even though there is no evidence; the first three games of the 2026 season certainly helped his job security.
Yes, they lost two of them and sit at 1-2, but what we’re seeing is a lot more respectable and competitive team than we saw at the end of last season, a campaign that ended with five straight blowout losses.
And I’m not getting into the shark-infested moral victory waters. Moral victories mean nothing.
But two things that will get you fired in this league are being non-competitive and boring. Yes, boring. While in a perfect world, marketing should have nothing to do with football decisions, in a multi-billion-dollar business like the NFL, the way most teams operate, of course, the business side impacts football decisions.
I saw a Jets fan say on social media about the Jets-Lions game – “I was glued to the TV.”
The only people glued to the TV down the stretch late last year were those who had an accident with Gorilla Glue while fixing something on their set.
“This team is different,” Glenn said at the Jets loss to the Lions. “This is not the team of last year.”
It’s hard to argue with that. The vibe emanating from this team is way different. The mojo is different.
But they gotta fix some things, like the interior run defense on their defensive line, and start winning some of these close games . . .
Something else they need to fix is their special teams kick and punt coverage, which has struggled for basically the last seven quarters.
After the early-game injuries to linebackers Marcelino McCrary-Ball and Kiko Mauigoa against Green Bay, the Jets’ coverage units on special teams have struggled.
While those injuries were challenging blows to the Jets’ coverage teams, this week they must come up with a better backup plan.
One thing they might not re-evaluate is how they are using defensive end Braiden McGregor.
And before I continue, let’s make one thing clear, what I’m about to write is not a criticism of McGregor, who actually has flashed this year at his natural position – DE/OLB.
He’s just a little miscast, running down on kicks and punts, and the reason is related to something we brought up the other day – he struggles breaking down well in space.
On a 44-yard kick return by Detroit’s Jacob Saylors late in the first half, which set the Lions up at midfield and ended up driving 53 yards for a TD, McGregor had issues in space in the middle of the return.
“Breaking down in space” means you have “active, choppy steps that allow the defender to change direction instantly if the runner cuts left or right,” according to Glazier Clinics.
At 6-5, with long legs, it’s hard for McGregor to do that.
Big week for the Jets special teams staff of Chris Banjo, Kevin O’Dea and Randall Jette, who must rearrange the furniture a little with the special teams’ cover units and get this fixed . . .
On Friday, we touched on an ESPN headline from late last week – “Jets’ No. 1 TE Mason Taylor (thumb) out vs. high-scoring Lions.”
The headline kind of struck me.
Nothing personal, but we didn’t get the headline then, and even less now.
To be honest, while Taylor is very talented, is he their true #1 tight end?
No.
They are operating a tight end by committee, and you saw that in Detroit, where they had one of their best tight end receiving games in recent memory, with Kenyon Sadiq, Jelani Woods, and Jeremy Ruckert having big contributions to their passing offense.
So, no, while Taylor is a very good player, the Jets were not playing Detroit without their #1 tight end.
September 28, 2026
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