EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott expressed support for New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn as losses continue to mount for the franchise, according to ESPN. Glenn is 4-17 in New York, having lost 17 of his 21 games as head coach, including three straight and eight of nine dating to last season.
Lott, who and Glenn were teammates in 1994, told ESPN, “Sometimes you have to go to dark places, and that’s tough.” Lott, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers, said he still believes Glenn understands what winning feels like and can help the franchise return to that standard. “When they get it right, it’s going to be special,” Lott added.
The Jets’ next test comes against a better-than-expected Cleveland Browns team that opened the season 3-1 and has won three straight games for the first time since 2023. ESPN noted that if the Browns win, first-year coach Todd Monken would have as many victories in five games as Glenn would have in 22, a comparison that highlights the early struggles in New York.
Glenn’s four wins with the Jets have come against primarily backup quarterbacks; three of the four victories were over teams using backups. Last season Glenn defeated the Browns when rookie Dillon Gabriel started after Cleveland had traded Joe Flacco and Deshaun Watson was out for the season. ESPN reports Watson has returned this season and is leading Cleveland.
Glenn inherited a long playoff drought and a run of losing seasons when he took over the Jets, facing a 14-year absence from postseason play and nine consecutive losing campaigns. Per ESPN Research, Glenn is one of 16 coaches since the 1970 merger to record four or fewer wins in his first 21 games with the same team. Lott acknowledged the difficulty of reversing a culture of losing and said, “One of the most difficult things is, how do you get people to not accept losing anymore? … I hope Aaron gets it done.”
