New York has been buzzing with speculation ahead of the Week 8 faceoff against the Bengals, but Jets head coach Aaron Glenn shut all that down with a clear refusal to answer any quarterback questions.

The press conference on Friday was tense, as Glenn, still searching for his first win, wouldn’t say if it would be Justin Fields or Tyrod Taylor taking the snaps. The answer was the same every time reporters came back to it. “I can’t tell you that,” Glenn shot back.

When a reporter asked if it was simply because he didn’t want to, Glenn responded, “That’s exactly it.” He later added, “It’s exactly why I’m saying it’s I don’t want to. I know how many times I gotta answer you that it’s not gonna change.” His strategy, according to him, is all about keeping any competitive advantage a secret from Cincinnati.

A post on X summed up the growing frustration in New York, “It’s sad that I went from not wanting this guy at all to saying well the ex players like him and he has gusto and some bravado which I respect to now find his behavior so unappealing obnoxious and downright disrespectful. From a guy that’s acting like he actually done something as a HC in this league. So sick of this guy. #JetUp”

The criticism comes from a fanbase that has watched the Jets become the NFL’s last winless team at 0-7, staring down the possibility of an 0-8 start for the first time since 2020.

Glenn benched Fields at halftime last week after the QB managed just 6 of 12 passes for 46 yards in the first half against Carolina. Sources said Glenn was leaning toward Taylor earlier in the week, but Taylor’s status turned complicated after he took a helmet to the knee last Sunday.

The Jets are desperate for anything that resembles progress, but the secrecy and mounting losses have turned the spotlight on Glenn’s methods. The decision on who starts at quarterback will only be revealed when the game kicks off, leaving everyone guessing until the very last moment.

Fans turn on Aaron Glenn as criticism mounts

Jets fans made it clear they have had enough. One post said, “That Aaron Rodgers story about Aaron Glenn sounds pretty accurate now,” recalling the quarterback’s account of a tense 15-minute meeting that ended his time with the team. Rodgers publicly said Glenn went “rogue” and disrespected him by flying him across the country just to tell him the Jets were going in a different direction, a story Glenn has since avoided addressing.

Another fan posted, “You nailed it. Losing aside he’s so unlikable. He is bitter and hateful towards the media who hasn’t even showed him any real teeth yet. Glenn is in for a rude awakening,” pointing to the HC’s increasingly combative approach with reporters. SNY’s Connor Hughes even compared Glenn to Matt Patricia, the former Lions head coach who also used a defensive, abrasive tone with the press while losing games.

One frustrated comment read, “He’s really, really bad. I blame The Woody!” The relationship between Glenn and owner Woody Johnson stretches back to 1996, when Johnson bought the team just two years after Glenn was drafted by the Jets in 1994. Johnson placed most of the blame on Fields during the NFL owners meetings, saying, “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we’ve got,” and questioning the team’s ability to win with the current setup at that position

Another fan added, “He acts like he’s won games as a head coach,” a comment that hits the mark given Glenn’s winless record and his refusal to adjust his tone despite having no results to back it up.

One more tweet stated, “He’s being coy about 2 pathetic QBs it’s embarrassing,” referring to Fields and Taylor. Glenn has pointed to his time as Detroit’s defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell as a model, but critics argue he is missing the key ingredient Campbell had during his early struggles with the Lions: optimism and accountability.

The final comment summed up much of the criticism, saying, “Been telling this dude is a clown. Because he expect people to think he is a leader but isn’t.” Former Jets linebacker Bart Scott publicly called out Glenn for keeping the quarterback decision secret, saying it creates an awkward locker room environment and serves no real purpose when both quarterbacks are struggling.