Aaron Glenn Identifies Problem In Offense as Jets Coach Confirms Stance on Justin Fields

The Jets led the NFL in fines (137) last season. That stat says plenty about discipline or the lack of it. Fast forward to Week 1, and the pattern didn’t just return. It put on a Broadway show in front of a packed stadium and the new head coach, Aaron Glenn. Turnovers and flags piled up in a razor-thin slugfest with Pittsburgh. The Steelers won 34-32 and took advantage of every single mistake. The Jets? They got another gut punch to start the year.

Head coach Aaron Glenn didn’t sugarcoat it afterwards. “The one thing to me that had to turn this game is, man, we can’t have turnovers. We can’t do it. We have to be a more disciplined team, right? There was some penalties that happened in that game that was true discipline issues,” he fired postgame. “And again, that’s something that will be addressed, cuz you will not be on the field with this team if you’re gonna cause us to lose games, you’re gonna cause issues like that, so we will get that addressed, and we gotta continue to work.” The message: fix it, or warm the bench next week.

Nothing about this was a one-off. Penalties and turnovers killed their momentum whenever New York started to take control. John Simpson’s unnecessary roughness flag erased a field goal chance before halftime. Quincy Williams’ late hit handed the Steelers a key touchdown drive. The script felt cruel, familiar, and most of all, preventable.

Tyler Johnson’s 24-yard catch and Josh Reynolds’ key third-down snag were wiped out by penalties in crunch time, killing drives that could’ve put the Jets ahead. On special teams, Xavier Gipson’s fumble directly set up an 18-yard Steelers touchdown to Calvin Austin III, flipping the lead when the Jets had control.

On defense, Brandon Stephens got burned twice on deep balls from Aaron Rodgers, including a 22-yard touchdown to Ben Skowronek early and a backbreaker to Jaylen Warren that kept Pittsburgh in the hunt. Every mistake had a name and a price tag, and Pittsburgh cashed in every time. But even through these mistakes, one guy showed promise: Justin Fields kept the offense alive with sharp throws and cool decisions when everything else fell apart.

Aaron Glenn backs Fields despite loss

Yet for all the Jets’ self-inflicted wounds, quarterback Justin Fields delivered. Glenn, notably tight-lipped on moral victories, threw actual praise Fields’ way: “He did an outstanding job. Outstanding. Again, I wanna go back and look at the tape.” The tape will confirm it. Fields finished 16-of-22 for 218 yards and passed for one score. He rushed 12 times for 48 yards for two scores and guided six scoring drives.

So why does this performance echo in a locker room that’s tired of excuses? It’s been years since the number under center wasn’t the problem. Fields looked decisive in Tanner Engstrand’s offense, mixing in run and pass, moving the pocket, and making sharp throws to Tyler Johnson, Josh Reynolds, and Garrett Wilson. The Jets lost, but for once, the quarterback wasn’t the fall guy.

Fields said bluntly, “We’re not worried about the critics.” Garrett Wilson? “That boy is a dog. That’s the man I know.” Nobody sugarcoats the defeat. The Jets get the Bills next. Another heavyweight. If they repeat the self-inflicted wounds, last year’s fines will look like a small problem.