Jets players cleaned out their lockers Monday, following their disappointing 3-14 season that ended with a fifth consecutive loss Sunday in Buffalo.
The message from the few players who spoke to the media was that they still believe in coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey, and they think this team can turn it around. There is optimism as the Jets enter the offseason with plenty of cap space and four picks in the first two rounds.
“This is the most confidence I’ve had since being here of this thing getting flipped,” fourth-year tight end Jeremy Ruckert said. “I know it’s easy to say that, but I feel like we’ve got the right pieces. We’ve got the right people in leadership and I’m excited to be a part of it. We’re not going to take this offseason lightly. There are things that we need to fix and we need to fix it now.”
The Jets missed the playoffs for the 15th straight year, the longest drought in North American sports. It is a black cloud that hovers over the franchise and its fan base. Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who came to the Jets by trade in August, said the current players and coaches can’t be held accountable for past failures by the organization.
“For 15 years, I can get your frustrations but for us new people to this organization, it’s our first year and you’ve got to give us some grace,” Phillips said.
Glenn has come under fire for the 3-14 season and how pitiful the Jets looked down the stretch. But players expressed belief in the beleaguered coach and asked for fans to believe in him.
“You can’t just say go to a blank slate,” Phillips said. “But the best way you can is you need to come in and say, ‘I’m believing in the head coach. I’m believing in the general manager. I’m believing in the people they’re putting in place and this was Year 1.’ It’s a fairly tough task to say you need to have all your answers done in Year 1. It’s playoffs or bust. I don’t think that’s fair.”
Center Josh Myers, who spent four years with the Packers before coming to the Jets this year, said Glenn is the right coach despite the record.
“Disappointed in how the whole thing went. Not at all how we wanted it to go,” Myers said. “I’m still encouraged, man. I believe in AG and everything he’s preached. I’ve been around enough good leaders to know that he’s a great one. I trust that we’re going to come back and have a great season next year.”
Myers said that Glenn has started building something, even if it’s hard to see from the outside.
“I think it gives another year for his culture to get instilled, which I really do think is going to be the deciding factor in turning this place around,” Myers said. “I believe in the culture he’s driving and I really do think it leads directly to winning. I think that, first and foremost. On top of that, we do still have a lot of positive things going on. We’ve got guys coming back, guys getting healthy, and then a lot of draft picks.”
The 2025 Jets will be remembered as one of the worst teams in franchise history. From becoming the first team in NFL history to not have an interception to getting outscored by 134 points in their final five games, the worst stretch in franchise history, it was a season to forget.
“I think the point differential,” Phillips said, “you look at these last stretch of weeks, that’s going to go down as a terrible statistic over a span of time that nobody in this organization wants to have their name affiliated with and unfortunately we do. My hand’s in that.”
It’s now on Glenn and Mougey to make the changes to the roster and staff that can improve this team in 2026. Guard John Simpson, a pending free agent, said he hopes he returns to be part of the turnaround.
“I want to help this program get on its feet,” Simpson said. “That’s the reason they brought me in in the first place. Obviously, we haven’t been able to do that in the last two years, but I do see that this thing is going to take off here soon. I want to be part of something like that.”