BREAKING NEWS: Aaron Glenn Sends Heartfelt Sean Payton Message Ahead of Jets-Broncos Game
The New York Jets are traveling to London to play the Denver Broncos in Week 6. The Jets are winless through five weeks and head coach Aaron Glenn is still looking for that coveted first win in his new role.
But in Week 6, Glenn will matchup with an opposing head coach who he has close connections to. Broncos head coach Sean Payton was the coach of the New Orleans Saints in 2008 when Glenn was a safety on the team. A few years later, Glenn would return to the Saints as a defensive backs coach, coaching under Payton from 2016 to 2020.
Later on, Glenn would coach under Dan Campbell with the Detroit Lions. Campbell was another close connection to Payton.
At this point, a lot of Glenn's coaching career, if not all of it, has been directly influenced by Payton, which is a great trait to have.
Aaron Glenn sends message to Sean Payton ahead of Week 6 matchup
"I owe a lot to my coaching development to Sean (Payton). I think he's a hell of a coach. He's offensive minded, really understand exactly how to attack different defenses," Glenn said when discussing the Week 6 matchup against Payton and the Broncos. "And he's taught me a lot about being a coach. And listen, he's one of the guys that I love everything about, you know, who he is and what he's about. And I'm looking forward to competing against him because I know how he is. And this will be a competitive battle between the both of us."
Considering Glenn played under Payton before coaching under him years later, there's no better team to secure his first career win against than Payton and the Broncos.
But the Jets are fighting an uphill battle to get this done.
The Broncos are riding high after upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5. The Jets will need to have their best defensive game yet to silence the Broncos offense. It's going to be tough for Justin Fields and the Jets offense to get much going against the stout Broncos defense. Glenn is fighting an uphill battle against his former coach.
Red Sox Starter's Huge Outing Comes With $14 Million Reality Check
Boston Red Sox fans were ready to ship Lucas Giolito to Mars after seven starts this year. Ever since, he's been brilliant.
After his seventh outing, in which he allowed seven earned runs in 1 2/3 innings to the Los Angeles Angels, Giolito's season ERA stood at 6.42. He's been lights-out ever since, going 8-1 with a 2.31 ERA over 85 2/3 innings (14 starts).
Tuesday night was the best outing of the season for Giolito, who pitched eight scoreless innings in a critical 5-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. It was also the night Giolito essentially clinched his own free agency.
Lucas Giolito's mutual option all but guaranteed
When Giolito signed with the Red Sox, the contract language was carefully constructed to protect the team if the hurler wound up missing time due to injury, which happened in a major way, as he suffered an elbow tear that required internal brace surgery last spring training and didn't debut in Boston until this past April.
If Giolito were to throw under 140 innings this year, he would be eligible for a $14 million club option for next season, one which the Red Sox would be almost certain to pick up. However, if he hits the 140-inning mark, the two sides share a $19 million mutual option, and the 31-year-old will turn it down in all likelihood.
After Tuesday's performance, Giolito is at 119 1/3 innings. He'll probably have at least five more starts, possibly six, but at most, he'll need to average four innings per start to reach that incentive and secure himself a seat at the free agency table.
If there's one silver lining for the Red Sox, it's the ability to tender Giolito a qualifying offer, which would net them draft compensation if he signs elsewhere, much like they got for Nick Pivetta signing with the San Diego Padres in February.
However, choosing whether to bring back Giolito, and at what price, is going to be an extremely difficult question, as few active pitchers' careers are tougher to judge at this point. Can he be counted on to pitch like the same guy he's been for the last two months?
