Things are not going well for the 0-6 New York Jets, but as far as public perception on head coach Aaron Glenn is concerned, the jury is still out. It’s not often a coach can go 0-6 without losing the fans, but it appears as though that might be the case for the first year head coach.
Today’s story comes from insider Rich Cimini who chronicles Glenn’s conversation at the podium. When questions were raised about Justin Fields tendency to hold onto the football too long in the pocket, Glenn responded with this.
“I know that’s a huge topic that everyone talks about, but there’s a lot that goes into that,” Glenn said. “When you look at the time he gets the ball out, some of those have been his best games, when he’s holding the ball three seconds or whatnot. That’s who he is.”
While it is important to note that Fields is getting rid of the ball on average at 3.01 second mark, the second slowest in the NFL. It is also worth noting that in some of Fields most stand out performances, it is not his time to throw that correlates to his success.
Cimini pointed out that in Week 1, when Fields threw for 218 and a touchdown, his time to throw was closer to four seconds, leading the entire league.
“I’m not sitting here saying that there aren’t some times when he needs to get the ball out,” Glenn continued. “He knows that, he articulated that to you guys. We’re going to continue to work on that as much as we can.”
Glenn Compares Fields To Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson
Glenn didn’t stop there. In a relatively “read the room” moment, Glenn went on to compare Fields to defending MVP Josh Allen and two time MVP Lamar Jackson.
“I think everybody tends to see who those guys are and understand that, and for some reason they don’t understand Justin,” Glenn said.
On one hand, he is right and does have the numbers to back it up. Josh Allen’s time to throw is a relatively high 2.91 seconds, while Lamar Jackson’s isn’t far behind at 2.87 seconds.
On the other hand, what Allen and Jackson have done with their three seconds does not, in the slightest, resemble what Fields has been able to make of his.
Allen has a higher completion percentage, nearly twice as many yards, and a higher passer rating.
Of course, I am not here to tell you that Josh Allen is having a better season than Justin Fields, you can make those decisions without me.
But I am attempting to gauge the temperature on how fans feel about their head coach going to bat so strongly for a player that has not delivered on the results.
Does New York want Glenn to be harder on the signal caller? Is defending your guy always the right decision?
I’m very interested to see how these comments play to the general public. Personally, I believe things in house should be handled in house and that when it’s time to talk to the cameras, you always protect your guys.
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