Aaron Glenn has hope — but he's not being realistic

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Aaron Glenn tries to provide hope for the Jets' situation — but he's not being realistic

By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 4:40 PM ET

The 0-2 New York Jets enter their Week 3 contest against the 2-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their backs against the wall. The Jets desperately need a win, and they'll be without starting quarterback Justin Fields, who is dealing with a concussion suffered in Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

On Wednesday, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn told reporters why he's hopeful for the team after the first two games of the season. He believes New York is making progress, even if the results seem minor.

"Big ships turn slow, alright," Glenn said. "Every day we chop wood to make sure we get the way we need to get it to. And I'm not expecting this to be just the wholesale term events. And things are just going to be like we'll be the number one defense in the league. But the thing that we're going to focus on (is) those things we have to do to get better. And every day in practice, we're going to end up focusing on that."

"big ships turn slow. every day we're going to chop wood" pic.twitter.com/9GGsBvj7ak
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 17, 2025

The New York Jets defense doesn't look like 2024

The Jets appeared to be heading in the right direction in Week 1 when they were a field goal away from beating Aaron Rodgers the Pittsburgh Steelers. New York backtracked in Week 2, suffering a 30-10 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. Losing Fields didn't help the Jets, but Glenn's defense has proved to be a serious issue in the early season.

The Jets have given up the 10th-most yards in the league, and the defense has allowed 30 or more points in both games. That's a far way from the New York defense that gave up the third-least yards in 2024. The Jets won't play Rodgers or Josh Allen this week. The defense should show improvement against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have scored 43 points combined over their first two wins of the campaign.

Jordan Sigler

Jordan Sigler is a sports writer with a decade of experience as a journalist, including his time as a breaking news/day cops reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. His sports coverage across the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, and college football world has also been featured at ChiCitySports, Gridiron Heroics, Pro Football Network, and Athlon Sports. Based in Austin, Texas, Jordan graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Tech University in 2014

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