The Week 1 matchup between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers ended up being one of the more exciting games on the slate.
This was a back-and-forth battle of Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields, an unexpected result that had fans on the edge of their seats.
Fields played a lot better than expected, and there is a chance the Jets might have won this game had it not been for a costly error by WR Xavier Gipson.
The Steelers were on the heels of scoring, bringing themselves to within two points of the Jets, and kicked off to Gipson, the Jets’ return man.
He elected to return the kick, which has become the new normal with the new rules in place, but he was touched by a Steelers defender in his return, causing him to fumble the ball in the open field.
The Steelers recovered the ball and scored moments later, as they had great field position after the fumble.
Head coach Aaron Glenn spoke about this play in a postgame presser, expressing his frustration with Gipson’s error at a critical moment.
“We have to be a more disciplined team. That is something that will be addressed because you will not be on the field with this team if you’re gonna cause us to lose games if you’re gonna cause issues like that, so we will get that addressed,” Glenn said.
#Jets WR Xavier Gipson just got put on notice by HC Aaron Glenn after his costly fumble:
‘The one thing to me that turned this game is man we can’t have turnovers, can’t do it,’ Glenn said. ‘That is something that will be addressed because you will not be on the field with this… pic.twitter.com/j0WtpYeU7z
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) September 7, 2025
Glenn noted that mistakes of this magnitude will not be tolerated moving forward, and Gipson could play a lot less as a result, or be benched for the foreseeable future.
While this blunder was suboptimal and was frustrating to his coaches, teammates, and the fanbase, the Jets did demonstrate that they have a lot of fight in them, and that Justin Fields just might be the quarterback they were searching for.
NEXT: Garrett Wilson Gets Honest About Justin Fields' Performance