Aaron Glenn was once the coordinator of a bad defense, one whom many of that team’s fans wanted to shove out the door. But Dan Campbell wasn’t firing Glenn — if they were going down, Campbell was going down with one of his closest friends. It eventually paid off, even if fans were still calling for Glenn’s head the next year.
That particularly bad year was 2021, and the Detroit Lions’ defense was even worse than the New York Jets’ defense is now. But Glenn doesn’t exactly sound like someone who intends to fire Steve Wilks as his defensive coordinator or even strip him of play-calling duties, at least not yet. That’s despite the Jets coming off one of their worst defensive performances of the season in a blowout 34-10 loss to the Dolphins, and a season with a handful of equally terrible performances.
Sunday was the eighth time this season the Jets allowed their opponent to score at least 27 points, and the ninth time they finished with a negative EPA (expected points added). It was another game without a takeaway — extending their interception-less streak another week, a stat even more embarrassing considering they dropped at least two potential picks against Tua Tagovailoa.
The pass rush, as it has often been this season, was nonexistent: three QB hits and one sack against a Dolphins offensive line that grades out as one of the worst in the NFL in pass protection. The run defense was a mess: The Dolphins rushed for 239 yards. “It’s BS,” Glenn said. “You can’t give up 240 yards rushing. It’s that simple. You can’t give it up. So you have to fix it.”
Quickly, the Jets fell into a 21-0 hole. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who also calls plays, ran circles around Wilks to start Sunday’s game. How else would you explain the Dolphins averaging 11 yards per play on their first 15 plays — the portion of the game that is usually “scripted”?
How else would you explain how often Dolphins tight ends were streaking wide-open off play-action passes, a recurring issue this season for the Jets, specifically in two games against the Dolphins?
“We knew they were going to come out fast,” linebacker Quincy Williams said. “The biggest thing was us coming out fast, too. We didn’t do that in the first series. A lot of movement, smoke and mirrors to get us off our spot. We didn’t show up.”
Obviously, not everything falls on Wilks — and it sounds as if it won’t. The Jets are outmanned talent-wise, especially in the wake of the Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams and Michael Carter II trades.
But the issues this season have been recurring, the adjustments have been lacking, the Jets never seem to be at a schematic advantage, and not many of their players have actively gotten better over the course of the season. Those last few points in particular fall almost entirely on coaching and Wilks, whom Glenn has allowed to lead the defense rather than call plays himself.
The fans are calling for Wilks’ head. That doesn’t mean Glenn is listening.
“I’ve been in that position before and to me — I was fortunate enough to have a coach that believed in me the same way I believe in Wilks,” Glenn said. “I evaluate coaches at the end of the season as we continue to talk and see how we’re going to improve — that’s on offense, defense and special teams. I do know this: It is a team effort between coach and player. I don’t look at one person and say this is all on him. No, this is a collective unit. Even with myself and making sure how I communicate the way I want things to look. I told you guys this yesterday, I’m looking at everything. I’m looking at myself, I’m looking at the coaches, I’m looking at the players.”
As mentioned above, the Lions’ defense in Glenn’s first year was worse than this Jets defense, but over time it improved. Detroit’s defense ranked 31st in EPA in 2021, along with 29th in yards, 28th in rush defense, 29th in third-down defense, 31st in red zone and 31st in pressure rate. The Jets have performed significantly better than that group, particularly in the red zone and in pass defense (though opposing teams haven’t really had to pass the ball much in the many weeks where they build big leads against the Jets). Still, it’s not good enough, and just because Campbell’s decision to keep Glenn worked out doesn’t mean it will with Wilks, who spent one season as defensive coordinator for both the Browns (2019) and 49ers (2023) before getting fired.
The Jets rank 28th in defensive EPA, 32nd in fourth-down defense, 30th in rush defense, 26th in sack rate, 28th in pressure rate, 25th in red zone defense and 31st in percentage of completions that go for first downs or touchdowns.
The Jets’ defensive EPA against play-action ranks 31st, according to TruMedia. They allow 83 yards per game on play-action, which ranks 30th, and they’ve allowed plays of 10-plus yards on 33.3 percent of all play-action plays, which is the seventh-highest. They have also allowed 13 touchdowns on play-action and allow the second-most first downs per game on those plays. Every opposing offensive coordinator knows this — and more often than not, they exploit it. The Jets have been particularly bad against tight ends, allowing 8.9 yards per play against them, the most in the NFL.
And that gets into the part about roster development: Jets linebackers have taken a significant step back this season. Jamien Sherwood had a breakout 2024 campaign that led to Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey handing him a huge contract; Sherwood has responded with one of the most disappointing seasons of anyone on the Jets’ roster. According to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed the ninth-most yardage in coverage among linebackers. He’s been better against the run (14th-best among linebackers) but not enough to make a huge impact in games like on Sunday.
“As a team, us as players, when you step in those white lines there’s no more coaching at that point,” said Sherwood, a team captain. “AG can’t save us, linebacker coach, whatever the case may be. We’ve got to go out there and perform every Sunday, and today we didn’t uphold the standard.”
Quincy Williams had been performing poorly enough that he was removed from the starting lineup a few weeks ago. He’s played better since, but Williams has the sixth-worst missed-tackle rate in the NFL. And rookie Francisco Mauigoa has struggled: Of 75 linebackers to play at least 100 snaps since Week 7, PFF has him graded last overall and in coverage, 71st in tackling and 69th against the run. He also has the 12th-worst missed-tackle rate.
The development problem is true across the defense: Who has actually gotten better or exceeded expectations? Defensive tackle Jowon Briggs and cornerback Brandon Stephens are the only obvious answers.
Jermaine Johnson has three sacks and five QB hits in 10 games, and hasn’t had one of either since Week 11. Will McDonald has had his moments (four sacks against the Browns in Week 10, two against the Steelers in Week 1) but otherwise has been highly inconsistent and sometimes invisible (he had zero pressures, hits or sacks against the Dolphins and has had sacks in only three games this season). McDonald also owns the fifth-highest missed-tackle rate among edge rushers to play at least 400 snaps, and he ranks last among 55 defensive ends in PFF’s run-defense grade.
The Jets are deploying a young secondary that has had its moments — including Stephens and rookie cornerback Azareye’h Thomas, who has allowed only five catches for 46 yards on 11 targets in his last three games. But none of the Jets’ defensive backs have an interception.
There are a lot of knocks against Wilks. It’s easy to understand why Glenn wanted to hire him: As a first-time head coach, it made sense to bring someone in who has done that job before. Wilks has been a positive sounding board for Glenn; things just haven’t translated on the coaching side.
If Glenn ultimately did decide to move on from Wilks, there could be some intriguing options to replace him. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris could be fired this offseason. It doesn’t seem as if Miami will be firing McDaniel, but if the Dolphins did, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver could be available. If the Browns move on from Kevin Stefanski, there aren’t many better defensive play callers than his D-coordinator, Jim Schwartz. Dennard Wilson has done some impressive work for the Titans, and Raiders coordinator Patrick Graham has had his moments over the years. The Cardinals could fire head coach Jonathan Gannon. Broncos defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard would be an intriguing option. There are also some less experienced options out there worth considering, even in-house — Jets defensive backs coach Chris Harris is considered a coach on the rise in league circles.
Or, Glenn could simply run it back with Wilks, work to improve the talent level on defense and see how he responds to this season’s failures in 2026. Glenn could also take over play calling himself if he doesn’t fire Wilks.
Glenn clearly hired the right special teams coordinator in Chris Banjo. Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand has shown signs of creativity. Wilks is the biggest question mark on Glenn’s staff.
On Sunday, Glenn said, “I didn’t have these guys ready to play” and that he has to “take a look at myself, take a look at the staff, take a look at the players.”
He’ll do that at the end of the season, too, and we’ll find out then if Glenn still believes Wilks is the right man for the job.