Jets' Aaron Glenn Talks End-of-half 'mistake,' Provides Update On Garrett Wilson's Injury

Hindsight is always 20/20, but Jets head coach Aaron Glenn admitted on Monday morning that he “made a mistake” by not be more aggressive at the end of the first half of Sunday’s 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos in London.

To recap the situation, the Jets, trailing 10-6, got the ball back at their own 16-yard line with 3:22 on the second quarter clock after forcing a punt. On fourth-and-one from their own 37, the Jets successfully orchestrated a fake punt, a risky move that paid off with a first down as Glenn called the team’s second timeout with exactly one minute left.

Then, just as it looked like the Jets were going to be the aggressors and try to score before the half, the Jets ran the ball on first down, followed by a Justin Fields sack, forcing the Jets’ third and final timeout with 37 seconds left. Fields completed a short pass to Josh Reynolds to put the Jets right around midfield at their own 47, setting up third down from their own 47-yard line.

And then the clock continued to tick, and tick, and tick, eventually hitting zeros as the Jets let the half expire without so much as taking a shot at the end zone.

Speaking on Monday, Glenn said there had been some confusion about what down it was earlier in the drive, and in an effort to limit any further confusion, he elected to take things into halftime knowing the Jets would get the ball first on the other side of the break.

“I wish I could have taken the clock down to five seconds and just threw a Hail Mary, to be honest with you,” Glenn said. “But at that point I just wanted no confusion, let’s just get out of the half, guys. We’re getting the ball back in the second half, and let’s get ready to go.”

Glenn also said that the plan coming into the game was to be aggressive, and he and his coaching staff had discussed on Saturday that if they were in that exact scenario, they would play to at least get three points, knowing they would get the ball back again on the other side of half time.

“That’s a mistake that I made,” Glenn said, “and I hold myself accountable for that.”

Not getting at least three points on that drive ultimately proved to be very costly, as the Jets lost by two points to fall to 0-6. The Jets mustered just 82 total yards of offense, including -10 net passing yards, the lowest mark in franchise history.

Still, Glenn said on Monday that he did see signs of improvement, despite how things turned out.

“To consistently win, there has to be improvement. And to me, I saw improvement within that game," said the Jets coach. “Does that mean we’re going to go on this deal of winning all of our games? No, but I know this: it gives us a better chance to win. I know everybody wants to win, but nobody wants to go through the hard stuff, and that’s what we’re going through right now. We’re going through the hard times to put ourselves in position to win.

“I have all the confidence in the world in this team. I have all the confidence in the world in these coaches. I have confidence in myself, and I’m not going to waver not one bit.”

Garrett Wilson’s Status

The biggest Jets injury coming out of the game concerns star receiver Garrett Wilson, who was in and out of the game while dealing with a knee injury, as reported by SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes.

Glenn confirmed on Monday that Wilson is indeed dealing with a knee injury (it was first announced as a hip injury), but he won’t know more until after the receiver’s MRI, saying he’ll have an update on Wednesday.

“I don’t really want to speak on that right now, to be honest with you, because I just don’t know what it is,” Glenn said.

“I’ll be able to let you know on Wednesday, but it’s always a concern when you lose one of your better plays, I will say that.”