Some might suggest the New York Jets moved on from former head coach Robert Saleh too quickly last season. After all, they let him go following a 2-3 start, and stumbled to a 5-12 finish under Jeff Ulbrich. That led to the Jets making some serious changes throughout their organization, including hiring a new general manager and head coach.
Yet, so far, the moves haven’t paid off. Of course, it’s only been four games, but the Jets haven’t managed to win any of them. When the Jets hired former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, the expectation was that New York’s defense would improve, considering that’s his specialty.
Again, we haven’t seen any improvement on defense in New York. In fact, the stats suggest they’ve gotten worse.
New York’s defense allowed 23.8 points per game last season, good for 20th in the NFL. This year? The Jets are allowing 30 points per game, ranking 28th in the NFL.
While Glenn is already taking heat, so is defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who was a one-time head coach with the Panthers. The Jets likely won’t fire their head coach after just four games, but moving on from their defensive coordinator soon could be a different story.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Jets may not be afraid to move on from Wilks, and Glenn’s experiences in Detroit could factor in here too.
“Aaron Glenn will be fine, but the Steve Wilks question is fair. Remember, Glenn was in Detroit when, in Year 1 of that rebuild (2021), Dan Campbell moved swiftly to let an old friend, Anthony Lynn, go, and prepare Ben Johnson to be the team’s offensive coordinator. We all know how that worked out. And the Jets do have a well-regarded and young lieutenant on their defensive staff, in Chris Harris, who could be groomed like Johnson was for a much bigger role.”
SI’s Albert Breer on Steve Wilks
Despite having previous head coaching experience, Wilks has only four years of experience as an NFL defensive coordinator under his belt. The early returns have been ugly, but that doesn’t mean things can’t turn around quickly.
The Jets have the Dallas Cowboys up next. But they boast the NFL’s fifth-highest scoring offense. If the Jets can’t hold their opponents to under 27 points for the first time this season, we just might see a coaching change in New York.
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