Thursday Whispers – Who is more to blame, the HC, DC or roster?

Watching the Jets run defense the last couple of weeks, and in most game this year, people are quick to blame the scheme and coaching.

And maybe some things need to be discussed those areas, but let’s not forget that the head coach made his bones as a defensive coach before landing the Jets head coaching job in January 2025.

So to blame the coordinator and give the head coach a pass is intellectually dishonest.

Of course, the head coach is involved with the defense. It’s his wheelhouse.

But if you want to give him a pass and say he’s not responsible for the defense, and it’s Steve Wilks’ fault, okay, but who picked the defensive players and the depth chart for 2025?

That would be Glenn.

And when you see the issues against the run, there are some things on film from certain players this year that are the same as last year under the old regime.

Like setting the edge against the run, and linebackers are taking bad angles to the football or running into blocks and taking themselves out of plays.

The ends and linebackers I’m talking about were on the team last year, and are doing the same things they did last year, so how is that Steve Wilks fault?

I’m not a special pleader for Wilks, who is a good man. In fact, when there were rumors they were going to hire him, I wrote a blog suggesting they should make him as the secondary coach, not the DC, after what we saw from him as a DC with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, when he was let go after one season.

You can go back and read that blog. It’s still on the site.

But I have two issues with the people ripping Wilks to shreds. First off, why is the head coach being let off the hook? Glenn got the Jets HC job because of his work as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. So when a head coach takes over a new team, after gaining a strong reputation for his work as a coordinator, on a particular side of the ball, even in a re-boot year, you expect the side of the ball that is his expertise to be improved immediately, like Jacksonville’s offense under first-year HC Liam Coen, considered an offensive guru. Same in Chicago with HC Ben Johnson, another offensive guru who has that side of the ball playing a lot better in Year 1.

The Jets’ defense has not improved from last year.

I’m not saying they needed to be a juggernaut this year, but just talking about improvement.

Also, whether you like Wilks or not, he’s been dealt a bad personnel hand, as mentioned earlier in this article.

As far as I’m concerned, they need five or six new starters for next season, and some better rotational backups at certain positions as well.

The Jets have major, major personnel issues on the defensive side of the ball that have nothing to do with Wilks.

So if you have concerns with the Jets’ defensive schemes or personnel, the notes put in the complaint box should be addressed to the man at the top, an excellent NFL defensive player, excellent secondary coach, and then very good defensive coordinator, major tenets on his resume that helped him land the HC job in Florham Park.

It’s incredibly disingenuous for people to place the blame at the doorstep of Wilks’ considering the head coach’s background.

Look, I’m not making Wilks into Bill Belichick, just saying, let’s be fair here . . .

Still no sign of Tyrod Taylor (groin) or Justin Fields (knee) on the practice field.

Taylor could probably play with limited practice, but Fields is the kind of prospect who needs practice reps during the week to have success on Sunday.

Taylor had sports hernia surgery early in his career, so this isn’t his first groin issue. So he’s probably a long shot to play.

So, who should they start – Brady Cook or Adrian Martinez?

Martinez is the more experienced player, but the new regime doesn’t have the same equity in him as they do in Cook, who the new regime signed as an undrafted free agent after this 2025 draft. Martinez is a player they inherited and then cut in August. He was brought back this week. So they will likely go with Cook . . .

December 11, 2025

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