Jets believe they're ready to go thanks to Aaron Glenn's leadership
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn looks on during a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 22. Credit: Ed Murray
The Jets officially began their game prep for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers on Monday, but one of their defensive leaders said that because of Aaron Glenn, not much changes.
Linebacker Jamien Sherwood believes Glenn has laid a solid foundation for what he expects from the Jets and how he wants them to play. Glenn’s first training camp as a head coach included live tackling and some player-led practices. The players believe they’re ready to show how far they’ve come under Glenn’s leadership.
“From the moment AG got here, he’s been preparing us for this moment,” Sherwood said during a Monday Zoom call. “He’s been preparing us for Week 1. Obviously, some nerves are going to be riled up for guys whose first game it is, but at the end of the day, it’s football.
“When we started training camp, we had our little tackling periods getting ready for this moment right here. So nothing changes. Really the mindset [is] go out there, be physical, play to the end of the whistle and don’t let up at all.”
It should be a fun atmosphere inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday featuring the return of the two Aarons. Glenn, a former Jets cornerback, will make his head-coaching debut. Rodgers will be back in the building he called home the previous two seasons.
“Personally, I think it’s cool,” right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said about opening against his old quarterback. “But at the same time, I’m just focused on us, and only us. I think about the O-line, what we need to know to win this game, what kind of defense they run, what they’re all about. I’ll let the defense handle that.”
Defense, your thoughts?
“It will be cool to play against him,” Sherwood said. “We built a friendship and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, we’re going out there with one goal in mind, and that’s to play football.”
Unlike last season, when expectations were high with Rodgers and a veteran-laden roster, the Jets are flying under the radar. They’re a team that is somewhat in transition with a new coaching staff that is stressing playing fast and physically, a new offensive system and a quarterback with different skills than Rodgers.
Justin Fields is a tremendous athlete who rushed for 1,143 yards in 2022. The Jets haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Chris Ivory in 2015. They will utilize Fields’ mobility, but they’re expecting him to develop as a passer. He’s totaled 45 touchdown passes in 44 NFL starts.
“I think Justin Fields is a great talent, man,” Vera-Tucker said. “I’ve been saying that before he even came over to the Jets. The fact that he’s bringing that talent in here, I think it’s great for this team.
“He’s a dual-threat quarterback. He can sling the rock when he’s feeling real confident back there and we give him time. He’s just a naturally gifted athlete. It’s cool when teams got to account for that. It makes it a little fun game-planning.”
Glenn believes in Fields and the team believes in Glenn. They like the change in attitude, accountability, practice and style that he and his staff have brought to the Jets.
“It’s always good to have a restart, if you will,” linebacker Marcellino McCrary-Ball said. “It’s been some hard days. But even on the hard days, we’re willing to keep pushing through because we know what’s on the other side. We know where we want to see ourselves on the other side.”
The Jets know they’re being overlooked this season, but they’re confident Glenn has begun the process of turning around a team that has missed the playoffs for 14 straight years.
“It don’t matter what anybody else thinks. It’s just a matter of proving what we know we can do,” Vera-Tucker said. “It’s all about since OTAs and camp kind of building our identity as a team and then coming in Week 1 and the rest of the season and showing that identity all year long. Now we get to go against another good team in the league and prove to ourselves what we’ve been doing this whole offseason. Eventually it’s got to pay off.”
Notes & quotes: The Jets signed linebacker Mykal Walker and running back Lawrance Toafili to the practice squad and released linebacker Boog Smith from the practice team. Walker played for the Falcons, Steelers and Commanders. Toafili was with the Jets in camp and the preseason.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
