Jets’ Aaron Glenn Makes Feelings Clear on Stripping Steve Wilks of Playcalling
The New York Jets’ defense has struggled mightily this season.
After another embarrassing performance during a Week 5 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ role as the playcaller has come into question.
“I know that is going to be the thing that everyone says but I always go back to my first year in Detroit when we struggled on defense too. Our head coach [Dan Campbell] had a lot of confidence in me, making sure that we get it right. I feel the exact same way. I have a lot of confidence in Wilks; he has done a lot of great things in this league as a defensive coordinator, and I’m going to allow him to do his job, I am. Because when things change, then the mentality of everyone is changing as far as ‘oh, he can coach’, you know? That is what happened with me. I have all the confidence in the world with him, I have all the confidence in the world in Tanner [Engstrand], and I have all of the confidence in the world in [Chris] Banjo. I’m going to let those guys do their jobs,” head coach Aaron Glenn explained.
This Jets Defense Has Reached Historic Levels of Ineptitude
ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed on Sunday, October 5, that the Jets became the first team in NFL history with zero takeaways through the first five weeks of a season.
They managed just one sack (when Dak Prescott gave himself up on a scramble) versus a Cowboys line missing four of five starters,” NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY revealed. “They missed 14 tackles.”
The Jets are undisciplined. They had 12 penalties called against them in Week 5, and 10 of those were accepted.
Throughout the season, the Jets have accumulated 42 penalties for 352 yards.
Patience Has Worked for the Jets in the Past
This same sort of situation played out in 2021. Head coach Robert Saleh, a defensive-minded guy, was hired to run the operation. Instead of handling defensive playcalling, he delegated that task to Jeff Ulbrich.
Ulbrich struggled mightily in that role during his first season with the team.
The Jets finished last in total yards allowed (397.6), last in points per game (29.6), and 31st in takeaways (14) in 2021, per ESPN.
During and after that year, fans and media analysts urged coach Saleh to strip Ulbrich of playcalling duties and/or just to fire him outright.
Saleh refused, saying it was only year one and that he needed time. While the Jets didn’t win any Super Bowls or playoff games, the defense eventually jumped to an elite level.
A year later, though, production significantly increased with the Jets ranking fourth in points and yards allowed per game as well as fourth in defensive EPA, per TruMedia. By 2023, the Jets were still maintaining good numbers, sitting at third in yards, 12th in points allowed per game, and finishing second in defensive EPA,” Tori McElhaney wrote.
Coach Glenn talked about his own experience with choppy waters early on in Detroit before eventually turning it around. Perhaps patience will be a virtue here, but fans are growing tired of seeing these underwhelming results.
Amon-Ra St. Brown calls out Lions fans over Ben Johnson hate
The Detroit Lions underwent some major changes last spring. Head coach Dan Campbell lost both of his coordinators. Aaron Glenn went to the New York Jets while Ben Johnson left for the Chicago Bears, both as head coaches. The latter made his return to Detroit and suffered a 52-21 loss. However, Amon-Ra St. Brown had a message for his fans about how they treated Johnson.
The Lions’ fanbase had something in mind for the Bears’ head coach as he tried to coach his team to a road win. They cursed at him and jeered him throughout the game. While such behavior is not a new thing for NFL fans, St. Brown took issue with what he was hearing.
Detroit’s turnaround is consistently attributed to Campbell’s ability as a coach. However, both Glenn and Johnson helped him transform the team from a bottom-feeder to a Super Bowl contender. St. Brown went onto his podcast to remind fans of that.
According to the Pro Bowl wide receiver, Detroit fans were in the wrong on Sunday.
“I don’t think that was right, I don’t think he deserves that just because of how much he’s done for us. I mean Ben being the offensive coordinator for the last two and a half, three years. I mean he helped turn our whole offense around with the guys that we had here. He had the highest scoring offense last year,” St. Brown said. “Top five offenses for the last two or three years for us in Detroit. So he did so much for us as a team, for the city of Detroit, for the fans of Detroit that were watching that game. They were just cheering us on what, seven months ago with Ben as our OC. So, I think the ‘F U’ chants is definitely not something that Ben deserved. Booing and ‘F U’ is something completely different. If you’re going to boo a guy, okay, whatever, that’s just being a fan.”
The Lions won the game easily, but their fans have time to reflect on how they treated Johnson before the two teams clash again.
