Aaron Glenn, Tanner Engstrand, New York Jets
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Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets reacts during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium.
There haven’t been many positives for the New York Jets throughout their 2025 campaign, but they may have found their offensive coordinator.
Tanner Engstrand, who came over from the Detroit Lions with head coach Aaron Glenn, has done an overall solid job with the Jets’ offense despite some limitations.
Without consistent quarterback play, the Jets rank 28th in the league in total yards per game at 281.5.
But they’ve also somehow found a way to be fifth in the league in rushing, averaging 141.6 yards per game on the ground.
It’s certainly a testament to how Engstrand has been able to work with what he has and understand his team’s strengths.
Of course, the first-time play caller is taking responsibility for the team’s offensive shortcomings, despite the positives that have been displayed.
Tanner Engstrand Talks Quarterback Switch
The New York Jets’ offensive coordinator began his Thursday press conference by addressing the team’s decision to bench Justin Fields and pivot to Tyrod Taylor.
“Just to start, I know AG (Aaron Glenn) touched on it earlier this week about the quarterback situation and the only thing that I’ll add really to that is it never falls on one guy,” Engstrand said to the press.
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Tanner Engstrand opens his weekly press conference by addressing the Jets’ quarterback change from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor:
“It never falls on one guy. We all know the quarterback is the one who gets a lot of the praise, gets a lot of the criticism, but it’s never about
“We all know the quarterback is the one who gets a lot of the praise, gets a lot of the criticism, but it’s never about just one person, and we all have a hand in it. It starts with me, and so we’re gonna continue to improve on a daily basis.”
A good coach is never going to throw any of his players under the bus, and Engstrand was obviously trying to take some of the heat off of Fields after his poor play over the course of the season.
Sure, you can’t just point to one player when the team struggles, but it’s fairly obvious that when your starting quarterback averages under 140 passing yards per game, it’s not going to look pretty on the offensive side of the ball.
If not the quarterback, Engstrand was asked the reason for the New York Jets’ total offensive struggles.
“I think the first thing I do is I look inward at myself and go, ‘what is it that I can do better?’ And there’s definitely some things that I can do and I’m not gonna divulge all that here today,” Engstrand said.
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Tanner Engstrand was asked if there was something he could point to as to why the offense has been struggling:
“I think the first thing I do is I look inward at myself and go, ‘what is it that I can do better?'”
Tanner Engstrand on Adonai Mitchell
Engstrand was also asked to share his thoughts on second-year wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, the under-the-radar acquisition that sometimes gets lost in the Sauce Gardner trade.
Mitchell made his New York Jets debut last Thursday night against the New England Patriots, where he was able to get open but had several frustrating drops.
“If you want to watch his performance last week, I got it. The drops, that happens occasionally. But what I see there is separation. I see separation and to me, that gets me fired up,” Engstrand said with a smile.
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Tanner Engstrand talks about what he’s seen from AD Mitchell:
“I’ll just first start as AD, Adonai as the person, he’s awesome. He’s been phenomenal so far. Just like being around him. He’s got great energy, he’s got a great attitude. To me, that’s where it starts. When I see
“That gets me excited about that player and where he’s going to go. We haven’t even seen it. We haven’t even scratched the surface with that guy and we’re excited about where he’s going to go.”
The Jets’ offensive coordinator will have plenty of reps to throw at Mitchell and the other recently acquired youngster, John Metchie, as Garrett Wilson works his way back from a knee injury.