Ever since he stepped to the podium back in January, HC Aaron Glenn promised that the Jets’ offense would put an emphasis on the ground game. Though Sunday’s result in the regular-season opener against Pittsburgh didn’t end according to plan, in another sense the blueprint was there for all to see.

Of the Jets’ 62 plays on offense, more than 50% (39 plays) were carries by either RBs Breece Hall (19), Braelon Allen (6) and Isaiah Davis (2), or QB Justin Fields (12). Hall went for 107 yards and contributed 38 receiving yards in his most productive game since Week 6 of the 2024 season. Overall, the Jets’ offense outperformed the Steelers 394 yards to 271.

And that was after RG Alijah Vera-Tucker was placed on injured reserve with a season-ending triceps tear, which meant that Joe Tippmann moved from center to RG next to rookie RT Armand Membou, with Josh Myers slotting in effortlessly at center. And how go does that key acquisition by GM Darren Mougey look right now?

“I think what Breece did speaks for itself,” Glenn said on Monday. “We talked about it all through training camp. I felt he is going to have a big season for us. He was a tough runner, he has really good speed. On a couple of runs he should have been stopped for negative yards, but he made things happen on his own. I think the way he played speaks for itself.”

Glenn then turned his attention to an offensive line, which only allowed a single sack of Fields and saw the left side of the line (LT Olu Fashanu and LG John Simpson) helping to propel the ground attack while all five starters had to deal with a tenacious Pittsburgh defensive front.

“And I think it’s the same with the O-line,” Glenn said. “I mean, this O-line, they really want to show their physicality, understand exactly who they are, and you got to give them credit because AVT goes down, we put Josh Myers in, Tippmann goes to guard and here we go. Those guys, they didn’t blink, not one bit. And that showed a lot from what we’ve been trying to create in training camp. One guy going down is not going to stop what we’re trying to do.”