The Jets are still looking for their first win and will host the Cowboys this Sunday. Coach Aaron Glenn’s team has lost four straight games in his debut season. Ahead of the next kickoff, he has already delivered a strong message to the locker room.

At the podium this week, Glenn didn’t sugarcoat the threat: Javonte Williams. The Cowboys’ new running back has bounced back in a way few expected. “He’s running just as hard as he did when he was in Denver. I met him come out of college, too. He was a violent runner. And that’s what everybody liked about him. So we’re gonna have to make sure we wrap up. We’re gonna have to have population to the ball to make sure we get this player down, because he can hurt you. He can hurt you. And we gotta be good with that,” Glenn explained. And he isn’t wrong.

Williams has been good in Cowboys colors. Through four weeks, the former Bronco has logged 63 carries for 312 yards and four scores. For a Cowboys team looking to balance its attack, it’s been the perfect fit. But while the Silver and Blue celebrate, Glenn has another problem, as they will line up without Michael Carter II.

Carter is sidelined after suffering a concussion in the Week 4 loss to the Dolphins. Glenn broke down the next steps. “There’s two different ways he can go about it. He can actually rehab this, and it’ll be the same time frame. Or he can have surgery and get it cleaned up, but the rehab time will be exactly the same. So that’ll be a decision that him and his agent will have to make, and I’m not making that decision for him,” Glenn said.

Either way, New York will miss his presence.

Carter had racked up 13 tackles and two passes defended across four games. With him out, Jarvis Brownlee and Qwan’tez Stiggers will shoulder the load in the secondary. Yet the challenge is steep, and Glenn cannot afford another loss.

Aaron Glenn fights to avoid Jets’ worst-ever start

If Aaron Glenn drops another game on Sunday, history won’t be kind. A loss to the Cowboys would make him the first Jets coach to start 0-5. That’s not just a bad look, that’s a record stretching across six decades, 18 head coaches, and a mountain of frustration for Gang Green.

Glenn admits he didn’t picture this start. Yet he also knew the road would be tough. The Jets haven’t been relevant for most of the last 15 years, and he lived a similar script in Detroit. Back in 2021, his first year as defensive coordinator, the Lions stumbled out to an 0-8 start. The memory still stings.

“It’s not fun being 0-8,” Glenn recalled Wednesday. “Man, you get ridiculed, you get talked about. I mean, people are after you in the worst way.”

Still, there’s a sliver of hope. The Jets’ remaining schedule ranks 28th in difficulty, per ESPN’s Football Power Index. That gives them some breathing room. But they have to fix things quickly.

New York sits dead last in turnover differential at minus-7 and near the bottom in penalties. On the flip side, they can lean on the ground game. At 145 rushing yards a week, only two teams run it better. However, Glenn isn’t backing down.

“These things take time, but I believe in everything that we are doing,” Glenn said. “I believe in our coaching staff, and I believe in our players.”

Still, the numbers are brutal: just a 2.7% playoff shot, according to ESPN. Yet Glenn knows one win could flip the mood. The question is, can the Jets get it before it’s too late?