Aaron Glenn's latest challenge amid 0-7 start comes from owner Woody Johnson's comments
Clockwise, from left: Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, owner Woody Johnson and quarterback Justin Fields.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Aaron Glenn has thus far navigated nearly all the inherent perils that come with being head coach of the Jets: The impatient fan base and media, the chronically inferior quarterback play, and the stink of nearly six decades of trophyless football that emanates from the franchise.
Now comes the final challenge, the one that others in his seat all have had to face, and the one that so far in his brief tenure with the team he had somehow managed to avoid having to confront.
Woody Johnson.
The owner of the team spoke on Tuesday at the NFL’s fall meeting in Manhattan and lobbed a series of verbal flash-bang grenades into the locker room by pinning most of the responsibility for the 0-7 record on one player, Justin Fields, the quarterback Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey hand-picked to replace the Hall of Famer they swiftly exiled upon their arrival. The quarterback who on Wednesday may or may not have been relegated to the role of backup since Glenn didn’t name a starter for the game in Cincinnati.
Glenn and Johnson both said that the decision on who plays rests with the head coach, but after the other things Johnson said, it’s hard to envision Fields ever playing another down for this team. Frankly, it’s hard to envision Fields wanting to, either.
And so, in the already fraught situation any head coach finds himself in while contemplating then (potentially? probably?) executing a change at starting quarterback, Glenn also had to clean up this very public mess between his boss and his player.
The credo of any team’s locker room is that they are all in this together, it’s us against the world, and during hard times those mantras become as important to maintain as they become fragile. Having Johnson point his finger and single out one of those players as the cause for the team’s misery? That’s the kind of disruption that can easily upend a roster and undo all the culture-building work Glenn has put into this project.
The dexterity with which he navigates this delicate chapter will say more about him than a win or a loss on Sunday.
“The first thing I would say is that he is an owner and he has a right to his opinion,” Glenn said on Wednesday. “When you look at that, it’s really something that has been said across the board from everybody including Justin. Man, we have to improve, and we understand that.”
Johnson, though, didn’t say they — the Jets — have to improve. He said he — Fields — has to improve. Or, more to the point, he — Fields — is holding them — the Jets — back.
Coaching for an owner who speaks his mind on such matters is not unique. At least Johnson only opens up to reporters a few times a year. Down in Dallas, Jerry Jones does it multiple times a week. Others around the league, too, are not afraid to speak out when the product is dissatisfying.
Johnson does seem to be rare among the franchise owners in this market who seldom make their displeasure known through the press, however. There are plenty of reasons for owners in this town to have disgust for the teams they shepherd, but they tend to keep those feelings inside their fortresses. The lone exception is Steve Cohen (and of course the overlap between Jets and Mets fans in the region is probably the largest of any two groups, so lucky for them!).
Glenn, though, has little hands-on experience with this in his coaching career. His stops in New Orleans and Detroit were with franchises where quotes from ownership don’t create seismic waves and cause everyone in the building to cringe.
Now, it should be pointed out here that what Johnson said of Fields may be statistically sketchy — that passer rating he bemoaned is actually a healthy 91.1 and yes, Fields has completed a pass, although 86 of them in six starts is exceptionally low — but he wasn’t wrong about what is ailing these Jets. It is, as he said on Tuesday, “Football 101.”
Perhaps he wanted to light a fire under Fields and wound up torching him. Maybe he wanted to throw a lifeline to the coach in whom he seems to retain an unwavering faith; remember that Johnson wasn’t asked about Fields when he disparaged him, the question was about Glenn.
Johnson’s motives are irrelevant. Comments from him or any owner never are. So when he makes them, the rest of the organization has to deal with them. Glenn in particular, the liaison between management and the roster, has to deal with them.
“We are all on the same page,” Glenn said of the common desire to see the Jets succeed and recognizing that the offense has prevented that from happening in each of the past two games without a touchdown. “It might be said different, it might be said with different tones, but we’ve all been on the same page when it comes to that . . . We’re just fine with that.”
Glenn said he has spoken with the team, and with Fields individually, about the situation.
“But there are so many things that we have to talk about,” he said. “The thing I’ve been talking about is how we’re going to win this game. That’s been the focus for us, not that other stuff.”
All head coaches are measured by their wins and losses. In this job, though, Glenn should know that it’s usually the “other stuff” that ultimately gets you.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
