Jets' Sauce Gardner wants better calls from refs; Aaron Glenn knows there's more to it than that
Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets participates against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 29, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Megan Briggs
Do the Jets not get the benefit of the doubt from officials because of their chronically poor record?
It is the sort of question that has been asked for decades in the NBA, where stars traditionally get calls that lesser lights do not in a sport with highly subjective officiating.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner brought up that notion late Monday night after the Jets had lost to the Dolphins, 27-21, in part because of 13 penalties for 101 yards.
“I’m personally frustrated,” he said. “I just feel like — I don’t know if this is wrong to say — I think I get called for more stuff just based on us not winning. I watch these winning programs and there can be some egregious things and it don’t get called, letting the players play.
“We don’t win. We don’t get the calls we should get and we get calls we probably shouldn’t get called for.”
It was a provocative assertion, one coach Aaron Glenn only partly agreed with after reviewing video of the Jets’ fourth loss in four games.
“Sauce said his piece,” Glenn told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m not going to question what he has to say about that. But I do know this: We have to put ourselves in position to start getting those calls.”
Glenn said there were several rulings the Jets planned to send to the league for clarification, as they always do. But he did not blame the result on the officials.
“Man, you have to earn the right to get a lot of these calls for the most part, and we just have to continue playing,” Glenn said.
“There were a number of calls in that game I felt didn’t go our way that I felt we should have gotten . . . I do know this: We had a good amount of penalties on our end that we have to clean up.”
Of course, the Jets were not playing the Bills or Eagles or another such powerhouse. The Dolphins entered the game 0-3.
“It goes back to what I said: Sometimes you have to stop asking why and start talking about how and start having solutions for some of those things,” Glenn said.
Speaking of which, after reeling off statistics that under most circumstances should have translated into a victory, Glenn noted one stat that must change: turnovers.
The Jets had three giveaways against Miami and have yet to record a takeaway in four games.
“We have to continue to emphasize taking the ball away,” Glenn said. “In practice, every time the ball is in the air we have to attack the ball. Every time the runner has the ball we have to go for the punch-out while still trying to make the tackle.”
Meanwhile, he said, the Jets’ defensive scout team will focus on trying to dislodge the ball when facing Jets offensive starters.
“We clean those things up, I think we’ll be happy about the direction that we’re going,” Glenn said.
Three of the Jets’ four losses have come by six points or fewer, but the Jets, Titans and Saints are the only winless teams in the NFL. The Jets host the Cowboys on Sunday then play the Broncos in London on Oct. 12. None of the Jets’ next nine opponents currently has a winning record.
Glenn said he was pleased with the play of quarterback Justin Fields in his first game back after sitting out a week with a concussion, as well as that of running back Breece Hall.
Fields was 20-for-27 for 226 yards passing and a touchdown and ran seven times for 81 yards and a TD. Hall rushed 14 times for 81 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown.
Returner Isaiah Williams made two critical mistakes, fumbling a kickoff return and calling for a fair catch of a punt on his own 3-yard line.
Glenn indicated Williams simply would have to learn from the experience. “I’m not going to sit here and say he’s going to lose his job over that,” Glenn said. “He has to get better. I do know that.”
What about 40-year-old Nick Folk’s career-long 58-yard field goal?
“Very impressive,” Glenn said. “Before the game he said that he felt like he had that type of range in his repertoire for that game. It was good to see him feel like that and be able to make that kick.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
