New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn ripped into his ball club so loudly following Monday night's 27-21 loss in Miami that a gaggle of reporters could hear the diatribe from outside the locker room.
It was a Choose Your Negative Adjective game from Gang Green: Sloppy? Ugly? Careless? Awful? Grotesque? Heinous? Repulsive? Repugnant? Abhorrent? Revolting? Abominable?
"Very disappointing, very disappointing. There is no way you can win any game with 13 penalties and three turnovers," Glenn said at the podium afterward, via the team’s official website. "It just can't happen."
Glenn was justified in ripping into his players, who fumbled and bumbled their way to an 0-4 start for the first time since Adam Gase's 2020 club.
It started with a Braelon Allen fumble that muddied an excellent, grinding opening drive. It unraveled from there.
The Jets lost three turnovers, giving them the worst turnover margin in the league in 2025 (-7). They were called for 13 penalties for 101 yards. The defense missed tackles, left receivers prancing free and couldn't make a game-changing play -- the only team this season without a takeaway through four games. New York is the only team in the past 20 seasons to start 0-4 with zero forced turnovers.
Star receiver Garrett Wilson understood Glenn voicing his frustration at the woeful, undisciplined start to the season.
"It's obvious, but it still has to be said because we're still not doing it right," Wilson said. "We're talking about it, we're talking about it and we're talking about it. [Limiting penalties] is the first thing we talk about in the locker room, so let's fix it next week. If we don't fix it next week, it's ridiculous."
For the first-year coach, who could find himself in the dubious position of being the first Jets coach to start his career 0-5 if Gang Green falls next week to Dallas, it's back to the drawing board.
"But what we have to do is get back to work. That's the only way that we can fix them," he said of the mistakes. "Really, take a look at these penalties and take a look at these turnovers. And we have to understand, before you can win games, you have to learn how not to lose games. And we have to do a better job in that case, and we will."
Turning around a woebegone franchise is not for the faint of heart.
Glenn's stint as a head coach is starting off similarly to Dan Campbell's tenure in Detroit, where Glenn served as the defensive coordinator in 2021. That Lions team lost its first eight games and was 0-10-1 before finding a victory. In Detroit, Campbell was afforded time to turn things around, but things certainly got dark that first season. The scrutiny that comes with coaching in New York likely won't offer Glenn the same cushion.
"This past week was a gotta-have-it [game]," Wilson said. "The fact that we played like we just did, this becomes an absolutely gotta-have-it game [against Dallas]. We have to get it fixed. At the end of the day, what do you want your legacy to be? When I look back at my time -- man, we gotta go now. We gotta have it this week."
