NEW YORK — Jets owner Woody Johnson still believes in Aaron Glenn, despite the worst start by a first-year head coach in franchise history at 0-7.
But Johnson is clearly fed up with the offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown in more than two weeks.
“Defense and special teams are doing better,” Johnson said Tuesday at the NFL’s annual fall meeting in Manhattan. “The defense is pretty good. If we could just complete a pass, it would look good. ... You’ve got convince [a defense] you can do something, otherwise it’s hard to have a game that you can win.”
The Jets are off to their worst start since 2020 when they went 0-13 on the way to 2-14 under Adam Gase.
Glenn has preached patience and defiantly remained confident throughout the season-opening slide. And Johnson, who hired the former Lions defensive coordinator in December, says he still believes he made the right hire.
“I do. I do believe in Aaron,” Johnson said. “I’ve known Aaron since 1996 [when] I was a fan. I’ve always been a fan of him. I see the way he handles the room. If I were a player, I’d respond to him because he’s the real deal. No B.S. No second agendas. What you’re hearing is the truth, and a lot of times players don’t get the truth. They get a lot of gobbly gook.”
Glenn benched starting quarterback Justin Fields at halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, but has yet to make a decision on who will start this weekend when the Jets travel to face the Bengals. Tyrod Taylor threw two interceptions in relief of Fields in the second half of Sunday’s loss, but the Jets moved the ball better.
Johnson wouldn’t weigh in on who the Jets should start, saying it’s “completely up to” Glenn and his staff.
But when talking further about the reasons he still believes in Glenn, Johnson made it clear he hasn’t been impressed by Fields and sounded like he knew which way Glenn is leaning.
“Well, it looks like he’s turning around parts of it,” Johnson said of Glenn. “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving. ... But if you look at any head coach of a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results if you were across the league.”
Fields made his Jets debut with one of the best games of his career, but in the five starts since it has not gone well: Fields has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for an average of 125.4 yards per game and only three touchdowns. And his prolific rushing ability has netted the Jets just 41.8 yards per game and one touchdown in those five games.
The Jets guaranteed Fields $30 million over two years when they signed him in March.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.