Aaron Glenn 'highly disappointed' by Jets' performance vs. Cowboys: 'I got to do a better job of getting all the guys mentally tough'
With Sunday's 37-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Aaron Glenn became the first head coach in Jetshistory to go 0-5 in their first season.
Glenn took the brunt of it after the loss, saying he needs to get the team mentally tougher so they can respond to adversity. Down 10-3 in the second quarter, RB Breece Hall fumbled in the redzone and the team failed to move past the turnover. Dallas went on to score two more times before halftime, taking a 23-3 lead into the break.
"When it comes to this game, highly disappointed," Glenn said. "I thought we had a really good opportunity when we were going in to score. We get the fumble and seemed like things went downhill after that. And that's something that we can't let happen. I look at myself when it comes to that because it seems like the wind was let out of us in that situation.
"I got to figure out a way to get our guys going when things like that happen. It's an imperfect game that we try to make perfect, and we have to do a better job of trying to be better in situations like that. I have to look at myself, see what I have to do to get these guys going when a situation happens like that because that's football. In this game, the mentally tough are the ones that survive so I got to do a better job of getting all the guys mentally tough when situations happen like that."
As for how the team can get mentally tougher, Glenn said the defense needs to focus on getting the ball back for the offense, and they then need to "push forward" past turnovers and mistakes by embracing those situations.
The head coach was also asked if he's confident that his messaging is getting through to the players, and despite the results, said he is, while acknowledging that improvements are "going to take time."
"I am, I really am," Glenn said. "The reason why is because when you guys talk to them, they say the same things that we say in our team meetings. And listen, it's going to take time, fellas... I'm not throwing any one of these guys out. The only thing we can do is go back to work."
New York's defense, which had high hopes heading into the season, has failed to register a takeaway this season. The five straight games without forcing a turnover to start a season is an NFL record. If they don't register a turnover next week, they'll join the 2018 49ers as the only teams since the merger to go six straight games without one (h/t Frankie Vitz).
"That's one thing you guys are going to hear me say, it's not giveaways, it's not turnovers, you have to take the ball away," Glenn said. "That's what you do as a defense. That has to be the mentality of the defense, that we have to go and get it because no one is going to give it to us. And we have to be intentional about that too. We emphasize it, we attack it, we go through it, but man, it just has to show up.
"We got to keep doing it, we can't just sit back and say, 'OK, we're not getting them.' We have to continue to try and emphasize it. Hopefully at some point they're going to come in bunches for us."
Glenn was then questioned about what's not translating from practice to games, and reemphasized the team's need to be mentally tougher after making mistakes.
"The practices have been damn good, they are, but it's just the fact that when you get in games like this when something bad happens, the response isn't where we need to be," Glenn said. "And I got to look at myself on that, and I got to do something to fix that. We're all in this together, but I do know this, it all starts with me, I do know that. We got to fix it."
New York's schedule won't get any easier in Week 6 as they travel to London to face the Denver Broncos (3-2), who are fresh off a 21-17 upset win over the previously unbeaten Eagles in Philadelphia. However, the first-year head coach isn't giving up hope on the season, saying they it's time for the team to "embrace the challenge" together and move forward.
"It's a tough game," Glenn said. "It's coached and played by real men. Listen, I'm going to embrace this challenge just like any other challenge. We're going to figure out as a team, we're going to figure out how to get out of this hole. Me being the head coach, listen we're 0-5, OK, I got it. But, we're going to figure this thing out and get out of this hole."