With the Jets and Patriots, there is never a loss for storylines. And one of the biggest for Thursday night's first matchup of the season between the two AFC East rivals are the head coaches and their programs.
Aaron Glenn, as Jets fans know, is a first-year NFL head coach. And while his team has won two in a row and is getting a little confidence going, the Green & White will be going up against the Patriots, whose coach, Mike Vrabel, is not a rookie but is in his first year at the helm in Foxboro. And with seven consecutive wins and sitting in first place in the division, Vrabel seems to have his team back on the beam.
Are the Jets cautious or cowed heading into this matchup in front of the boisterous red-white-and-blue-clad fans at Gillette Stadium? Hardly. Glenn's Jets are respectfully ready to rumble.
"This going to be a fight, this is going to be a fight ... but we welcome the fight, we look forward to it," Glenn said before Tuesday's practice at 1 Jets Drive. "It's a Thursday night game, and a lot of factors go into this game that I'll keep between us and the players for us to operate the way we need to. But we're looking forward to this one."
Glenn has praise for Vrabel's program, not surprising because, even though the former linebacker has been a head coach longer, taking on the Tennessee Titans in 2018-23, the former cornerback Glenn and Vrabel have followed similar contemporaneous paths toward their positions.
"I know him," Glenn said. "He was always tough, physical, hard-nosed. We're basically from the same tree when you look at the coaches he's been with and I've been with. It's not surprising.
"When you watch the tape, you can tell how Vrabel has his fingerprints on how this team operates. ... Everybody's different, but obviously they're doing a good job of what they're doing."