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Rich Cimini
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — After watching 60 minutes of sloppy football, New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn ripped into his team with a locker-room rant that was heard in the adjacent media room. Glenn was hot, and understandably so.
The Jets dropped to 0-4 with a 27-21 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium — a three-turnover, 13-penalty performance that sparked frustration in all corners of the locker room.
Glenn’s post-game invective focused on penalties and turnovers, according to players.
“It’s obvious, but it still has to be said because we’re still not doing it right,” wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “We’re talking about it, we’re talking about it and we’re talking about it. (Limiting penalties) is the first thing we talk about in the locker room, so let’s fix it next week. If we don’t fix it next week, it’s ridiculous.”
An 0-4 start isn’t that unusual for the Jets — it happened in 2020 — but Glenn finds himself in a small fraternity of coaches that have experienced profound struggles. He joins Adams Gase (2019) and Lou Holtz (1976) as the only coaches who began their Jets career with four straight losses.
No Jets coach has started 0-5. The Jets host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner, drafted the same year as Wilson (2022), is staring at the possibility of a fourth straight losing season. The frustration was etched on his face as he spoke quietly in a somber locker room.
“It’s extremely shocking,” Gardner said. “I want to win. Period, point blank. Obviously, when I was younger, coming into the league, I was just like — me, Garrett, the young people, we have to do our job. Now it’s to the point where we’re talking Year 4 right now.”
After competitive losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Jets were confident against the previously winless Dolphins. They got off to a promising start, marching 81 yards (mostly on the ground) on their first possession.
Then, disaster.
On a first-and-goal from the Miami 6, running back Braelon Allen lost a fumble at the 1 – the first player this season to lose a fumble in a goal-to-go situation. It was the first fumble in 20 career games; his night ended early. Later, he suffered a potentially serious knee injury.
Fields lost a fumble on the second possession, as the Jets became the first team since 2020 to lose fumble on their first two drives of a game. Isaiah Williams completed the hat trick, fumbling on a kickoff. The Dolphins converted the turnovers in 14 points.
“Very disappointing, very disappointing,” said Glenn, who had composed himself by the time he got to the interview podium. “There is no way you can win any game with 13 penalties and three turnovers. It just can’t happen.”
Both teams began the night with no takeaways. The ended the night with none, becoming only the fifth team in the last 90 years to be 0-4 with no takeaways, according to ESPN Research.
When Glenn became the coach, he vowed to eliminate the team’s longstanding penalty problem. On Monday night, they had nine offensive penalties, tied for their second-most in a game over the last 25 years. Five were of the pre-snap variety.
They ran the ball well at times — 197 yards, including 81 on scrambles by quarterback Justin Fields. Back after missing one game with a concussion, Fields scored on a spectacular 43-yard run. The rest of the offense was disjointed and penalty prone.
Fields completed 20 or 27 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown, most of it coming in the fourth quarter in comeback mode.
“This past week was a gotta-have-it (game),” Wilson said. “The fact that we played like we just did, this becomes an absolutely gotta-have-it game (against Dallas). We have to get it fixed. “At the end of the day, what do you want your legacy to be? When I look back at my time – man, we gotta go now. We gotta have it this week.”
Glenn knew this was going to be a difficult challenge, rebuilding a perennial loser. He insisted he’s not wavering.
“My confidence is not going to wane, not one bit,” he said. “We’re not going to waver on the things that we’ve been talking about, how we got to win games. We just got to do a better job of doing those things.
“So, yes, it was going to be tough. I understand that, and we are going to continue to work to get this thing turned.”
