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The following exchange occurred in Aaron Glenn’s Thursday press conference:
Al Iannazzone, Newsday: What is your plan this Saturday? Will you play Justin (Fields)?
Glenn: We’re playing. We’re playing. I can’t tell you how much guys are going to play. That’s going to factor by how the game goes, but we’re playing.
Iannazzone: Is there a reason?
Glenn: Because I want to play. That’s the reason.
Iannazzone: Is it important at this point for Justin?
Glenn: I want our guys to play. That’s the reason.
Headline on a website named Outkick.com – “Aaron Glenn Already Testy With New York Media For No Good Reason.”
This headline was supporting a column by veteran NFL writer Armando Salguero.
In his led, Salguero wrote – “Aaron Glenn is a rookie NFL head coach responsible for one of the league’s worst teams from a year ago in the nation’s largest media market. So things are bound to go sideways at times this season.”
Salguero added later in the column – “If Glenn is acting like this when his team is undefeated in 2025, how’s he going to conduct himself when the losses start to pile up and hard questions come rapid fire?”
In other words, Salguero is saying – “pick your spots.”
“My question is, why choose this route? What gets accomplished here other than alienating some reporter? Salguero asked.
I like Armando, and I have no issue with what he’s writing, but I have news for him and others, like ESPN’s Alan Hahn (who ripped Glenn recently for his media approach) don’t think Glenn gives a rat’s ass whether he offends reporters now, or three months from now.
Glenn is not a “people pleaser.”
For those unfamiliar with that personality type, it “prioritizes the needs and approval of others over their own. This behavior can stem from a fear of rejection or a desire for validation.”
That definition is from “Psychology Today.”
Glenn is not concerned with media “approval” or “rejection” and has no “desire for validation” from them.
He doesn’t care.
And considering he has a newly minted five-year contract, for probably somewhere in the $10-12 million-a-year range, he has the bully-pulpit in Florham Park right now, and at least for 2-3 years. It’s unlikely that Woody, Christopher, and Ira would want to eat this contract for at least three years.
Not that they are even thinking that way right now.
Look, it’s not a good idea to be rude to the media, but I was there for this exchange, and I don’t think it was rude. It was blunt, but not rude. He didn’t raise his voice or call anybody names.
He was just saying that the Jets are going to play starters and that he doesn’t need to explain why.
Sometimes, in answers to the media, “less is more” is a good approach.
Robert Saleh is a good man, and perhaps a people pleaser, and he would sometimes create stories with long-winding answers to tough questions.
And one last thing – this whole #1 media market angle has become passe. This market isn’t that tough anymore.
There are some tough moments in pressers here and there, but the only thing that is still as tough as it used to be in the New York media is the sensationalist back page headlines of the tabloids.
Those are still biting, but they are done by people in an office somewhere, nobody ever sees, not the foot soldiers covering and writing about the team.
The day and age of sports columnists like Dick Young, destroying teams, and forcing Tom Seaver trades are long in the rearview mirror.
So, honestly, Glenn’s tough, blunt, approach with the media, isn’t going to cause him much of a problem locally.
You will see some national people go after him for it, but he seems to have things locally under control.
Not that he cares about having things with the media “under control.”
He focused on turning around a football team that has missed the playoffs 14 years in a row.
Media relations is a tertiary issue right now.
August 8, 2025
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