Jets head coach Aaron Glenn emphasized roster over quarterback this week after being introduced to the media, stating that "everybody is under the microscope" and that he and GM Darren Mougey are still in evaluation mode regarding QB Aaron Rodgers.
"That's kind of the lever for this all," ESPN's Field Yates told team reporter Ethan Greenberg in Mobile, AL, about the decision on Rodgers. "If you bring back Aaron, obviously that's an indication that you plan to compete in a major way this upcoming season. Aaron – both in terms of his age and his résumé and also this contract level – you don't bring a player back at that level and say, 'Hey, we're going to try to kind of just stay in the middle or think about 2026 and beyond.' So, I do think that kind of dictates how the rest of the offseason could look."
Glenn, who is assembling his staff, said the Jets are not going to rush to their answer and insisted they will get to the right answer. In the 17 games last season, Rodgers hit on 63% of his passes for 3,897 yards with 28 TDs and 11 INTs. He will turn 42 in December and has yet to decide if he will play a 21st season in the NFL.
"As we know in the NFL, it's hard to find quarterbacks in free agency and also through trades," Yates said. "So, if you don't keep Aaron Rodgers around, you might be looking at the draft for a potential long-term keeper there. But it's also a team that has enough talent, especially on defense, a couple of years we were talking about this as perhaps the best defense in the entire NFL, so I don't know you can say with certainty this needs to take a step back before we can take a step forward.
"I do think the new administration is going to have to kind of plant their flag on which direction they plan on going. I think the first step to that is identifying what they want to do at quarterback."
Glenn made several opposing quarterbacks feel uncomfortable the past four seasons in Detroit. Despite losing several key contributors to injury last season, Glenn coordinated a defensive unit in Detroit that finished No. 1 on third down (32.43%), No. 5 against the run (98.4 yds/g), T5 in INTs (16) and T10 in takeaways (24). The season prior, Glenn coached a group that was No. 2 in rush yards allowed/game (88.8) and No. 3 in rush yards/play (3.7)
"I don't think this is going to be one where players are going to be babied," Yates said of Glenn's approach. "I think there is going to be some tough love and that's not because he's trying to be unkind to players, but it's because he has a certain expectation that he holds them too. I think we can sometimes use words like attacking and aggressive in coaching opening press conferences a little gratuitously. One thing we know about his defenses is they did attack – they were unafraid to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and they were unafraid to let cornerbacks do their thing on an island. I don't know exactly how the defense will look schematically, but if it looks like anything like it did in Detroit under Aaron Glenn – you can expect guys like Sauce Gardner will have a ton of opportunities to earn their keep as a 1-on-1 cornerback."
Glenn, 52, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Jets, was a scout for the Green & White in 2012-13. This is his third different stint with the club while Mougey, 39, moved east following a 12-year run in the Broncos personnel department.
"The fact that he's been through sort of a couple different regimes in Denver, a few different regimes if that, and several head coaches speaks to somebody that if multiple people evaluated you and believed you deserved to stay and on top of that you deserved to be promoted throughout this process speaks to somebody who clearly has a sensibility about them, some chops to their scouting acumen – not just at the pro level but also the college level," Yates said of Mougey. "So, I would say the early signs suggest somebody that is prepared for this role. I understand for somebody doing this the first time, there is always going to be the uncertainty for anybody who hasn't been in that seat before. But I can at least believe that certain people are more prepared than others. Whether they execute is a different story, but it seems like he is ready for this opportunity."
