Aaron Glenn will leave all the speculation about his job security to everyone else.
The New York Jets coach is struggling in his second season, sitting on a hot seat that gets more uncomfortably toasty with each tough loss. His sole focus, though, remains on finding a way to fix it all.
“There’s so much that I think about when it comes to us improving each week that that really doesn’t come across my mind, to be honest with you," Glenn said Monday about his
job status. “I understand how this league is. I understand what this business is about. But my first job of each week is improving this team.
"That’s the only thing that I think about.”
Plenty of others, namely frustrated fans, are pondering the other stuff for him. The Jets are 2-6, on a three-game skid and are 5-20 under Glenn since he took over as coach.
The past two weeks have been particularly brutal, especially considering New York lost 28-25 to a previously winless Miami team and followed it up by blowing a fourth-quarter lead to Las Vegas and losing 38-33 after the Jets scored on their first six offensive possessions. And both defeats came at home.
Owner Woody Johnson, who hasn't spoken to reporters since last year, surely couldn't have been pleased at how MetLife Stadium was filled with black-and-silver clad Raiders fans on Sunday — especially when their chants of “Dee-Fense!” contributed to a false start penalty for the Jets.
Glenn — a former Pro Bowl cornerback for the Jets and a one-time fan favorite — knows he needs victories, and soon, to have a chance at getting a third season as coach.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean, that’s what this is. It’s a bottom-line business and we have to win, but we still have nine games left. So we still have an opportunity to win nine games.”
Wishful thinking? Probably, considering the Jets' next two opponents are a Kansas City team that's 5-2 coming off a tough loss at Denver and will be playing at home looking to get right, and a Buffalo team that's 6-1 with the best record in the AFC.
“Coach has proceeded to explain and express and be emphatic about the same exact message he came in this with,” defensive lineman Jowon Briggs said. “I have undying and unyielding resolve and unyielding trust in what Coach got going on, just as any other guy in this locker room.
“And I'm pretty proud to play on a team that's led by him, and we're going to continue to work to make this something that everybody's proud of.”
The run game. Braelon Allen ran for a career-high 147 yards and had a touchdown on 21 carries as the Jets rolled up a season-best 166 yards on the ground. The offensive line, which got left guard Dylan Parham back after he missed four games with a knee injury, was able to create holes and running lanes throughout against Las Vegas.
Red zone offense. The Jets were just 2 of 6 on scoring touchdowns inside the Raiders 20. They got four field goals from Jason Sanders in the instances they didn't get into the end zone, but Glenn acknowledged that's an area New York needs to improve, along with producing in the last two minutes of the first half — they've been outscored 107-9 under him.
“It feels like it's something different every time we get down there, but obviously those are critical situations when you get in the red zone,” center Josh Myers said. “You have to get six instead of three. We definitely left some points out there in the red zone."
WR Adonai Mitchell. He had seven catches for a career-high 142 yards and a touchdown in his second game back after missing four with a finger injury that required surgery.
Special teams. After being among the best in the league last season, special teams coordinator Chris Banjo's unit has not performed as well. They allowed the NFL's first kickoff return for a touchdown this season when Dylan Laube went 95 yards for a score right after the Jets took the lead in the second quarter. The Jets had three returns for TDs last season, but have struggled to break through in the first eight games.
RB Breece Hall is close to returning from a quadriceps injury that has sidelined him for five games. With Allen's emergence in the running game, Hall's name has been mentioned in trade rumors — something Glenn seemed to shut down.
“Breece is still a part of this team,” Glenn said. "I understand how the noise happens when things like this happen, but I’ve said it before: We’re in the business of keeping good players and he’s one of our better players. So Breece will still be here.” ... Rookie edge rusher David Bailey missed his first game with a groin injury.
0 — The number of targets rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. had against Las Vegas after two consecutive games with 100-plus yards receiving and a touchdown.
Glenn needs to find a way to keep the Jets at least competitive during the next two weeks when New York matches up with two of the best teams in the AFC. General manager Darren Mougey also needs to determine whether he'll be a seller ahead of the NFL's trade deadline on Nov. 10.
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