Topics not up for discussion with the Jets and Aaron Glenn: 'Tank' and 'draft pick'

The Jets won’t apologize for winning on Sunday.

Hurting their draft position is not on the coaches’ or the players’ minds. The Jets are trying to win every game possible, and in whatever way possible, as they showed on Sunday. They scored 10 points in the final 1:53 and beat the Falcons, 27-24, on Nick Folk’s walk-off 56-yard field goal.

“Winning is amazing,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said Monday. “It’s such a great feeling and the energy’s always better. Your body always feels a little bit better. Winning in the National Football League is like a drug. It’s addicting and you want to seek it.”

The Jets (3-9) went from picking fourth in the draft to seventh, according to Tankathon.com. There still are five games remaining, so nothing is set.

Phillips contends that having even the No. 1 pick doesn’t guarantee a team will get the best player or quarterback, the latter of which is the Jets’ primary need.

Phillips was taken in the 2018 draft by Buffalo. That draft class featured Baker Mayfield, Saquon Barkley, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, who was the last pick of the first round.

“Are all of the best picks ever the first picks?” Phillips said. “I go back to my draft class and a lot of the ones who performed well were . . . The two-time MVP [Jackson] was the 32nd pick in my draft. And Josh Allen wasn’t the first quarterback taken. So I don’t buy into any of that. You want to win.”

That’s also the message that Aaron Glenn has been sending to his team. He’s trying to change the Jets’ losing culture. Glenn doesn’t want to hear anything remotely related to tanking for a better draft pick.

“That’s one thing that is not even a topic in this building,” he said. “The only thing we know is each week, we prepare to win games. That’s all we talk about, so I have no idea as far as the losing part that comes outside of this [building] because it’s about winning.

“The only thing that we think about as coaches and players is how we win games and how we continue to build on the process that we have to create the outcomes that we want. No matter what the situation is, no matter what happens on the outside, yeah, we’re trying to win. Period, point blank. To me, that’s a moot question.”

The Jets are playing better and maturing as a team. They lost their first seven games, including five decided by seven or fewer points (three decided by two points). Since then, they are 3-2, with all three wins by seven or fewer points.

Left guard John Simpson believes the team is “jelling now” and there is “better chemistry now.” He said the players believed they were close to breaking through earlier but had to learn to close out games. They’ve started doing that.

“We got what it takes, we just got to be able to finish,” Simpson said. “I think we’re learning how to finish. I think as a team we just got to continue to grow that aspect and we’ll be great.”

Glenn believes winning is “contagious.” He said every win now will help this team going forward, especially the players who will be a part of the Jets’ future.

Phillips agreed. He said these experiences will help him and his teammates as well as the future of the franchise.

“I’m very thankful for the mental toughness that had to develop in our team, and the core players of this team who are going to be a part of it for the years to come,” Phillips said. “To have a season of growth like that, that you have to go through and battle through and can reflect back on, because this [expletive] sucks when you’re losing.

“As we build this thing and as A.G. and [general manager Darren Mougey] put together this roster and the foundation of what’s going to be the Jets to come, they need to find football players who can find ways to win.”

Notes & quotes: Glenn is keeping the reason that rookie receiver Arian Smith was inactive between him and the player, but Glenn expressed confidence in Smith. “He’s a huge part of what we’re doing,” he said. “We talked about it. We’re going to move forward and get ready for him to play the rest of the season.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.