The New York Jets’ defense has struggled mightily this season.
After another embarrassing performance during a Week 5 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ role as the playcaller has come into question.
“I know that is going to be the thing that everyone says but I always go back to my first year in Detroit when we struggled on defense too. Our head coach [Dan Campbell] had a lot of confidence in me, making sure that we get it right. I feel the exact same way. I have a lot of confidence in Wilks; he has done a lot of great things in this league as a defensive coordinator, and I’m going to allow him to do his job, I am. Because when things change, then the mentality of everyone is changing as far as ‘oh, he can coach’, you know? That is what happened with me. I have all the confidence in the world with him, I have all the confidence in the world in Tanner [Engstrand], and I have all of the confidence in the world in [Chris] Banjo. I’m going to let those guys do their jobs,” head coach Aaron Glenn explained.
This Jets Defense Has Reached Historic Levels of Ineptitude
ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed on Sunday, October 5, that the Jets became the first team in NFL history with zero takeaways through the first five weeks of a season.
They managed just one sack (when Dak Prescott gave himself up on a scramble) versus a Cowboys line missing four of five starters,” NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY revealed. “They missed 14 tackles.”
The Jets are undisciplined. They had 12 penalties called against them in Week 5, and 10 of those were accepted.
Throughout the season, the Jets have accumulated 42 penalties for 352 yards.
Patience Has Worked for the Jets in the Past
This same sort of situation played out in 2021. Head coach Robert Saleh, a defensive-minded guy, was hired to run the operation. Instead of handling defensive playcalling, he delegated that task to Jeff Ulbrich.
Ulbrich struggled mightily in that role during his first season with the team.
The Jets finished last in total yards allowed (397.6), last in points per game (29.6), and 31st in takeaways (14) in 2021, per ESPN.
During and after that year, fans and media analysts urged coach Saleh to strip Ulbrich of playcalling duties and/or just to fire him outright.
Saleh refused, saying it was only year one and that he needed time. While the Jets didn’t win any Super Bowls or playoff games, the defense eventually jumped to an elite level.
A year later, though, production significantly increased with the Jets ranking fourth in points and yards allowed per game as well as fourth in defensive EPA, per TruMedia. By 2023, the Jets were still maintaining good numbers, sitting at third in yards, 12th in points allowed per game, and finishing second in defensive EPA,” Tori McElhaney wrote.
Coach Glenn talked about his own experience with choppy waters early on in Detroit before eventually turning it around. Perhaps patience will be a virtue here, but fans are growing tired of seeing these underwhelming results.
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