Plotting. Planning. Scheming. No matter what the New York Jets concoct, they can’t seem to get to the quarterback on any consistent basis without dialing up a blitz.
Linebacker Demario Davis is tied for the sack lead with edge rushers Kingsley Enagbare and David Bailey. All have two sacks, but none of them are a consistent threat. In fact, one of Bailey’s sacks came when he merely chased quarterback Cam Ward out of bounds.
Four games into Aaron Glenn’s second season, the defensive line is becoming a problem the Jets cannot scheme away. Sunday’s loss to the Bears was yet another example, as the line couldn’t generate any real pressure against Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. He had five completions in 2024-2025, but looked like Johnny Unitas against the Jets last Sunday.
The shameful tally: Bagent completed 25 of 34 passes for 268 yards, part of a Bears onslaught that put up 492 yards and 34 first downs. The Bears never punted.
Some speculate that the Jets miss Quinnen Williams, who clogged the middle lanes and prevented quarterbacks from getting away from the edges. Although T’Vondre Sweat has performed admirably in the role of Williams, he’s not Williams.
In Chicago, the Bears rarely missed on third down, helped by two key penalties that allowed them to keep the drive going.
The Jets defensive line is already thin, and today news arrived that Braiden McGregor will miss the rest of the season. Add in Enagbare’s knee injury, Joseph Ossai’s tender foot and Will McDonald IV’s rolled ankle, and things don’t look to get better anytime soon.
Head coach Aaron Glenn tried to explain the lack of a rush away by falling on his sword.
“I think it’s more or less affecting the pocket,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said about what the Jets need to do better. “When you affect the pocket, the sacks usually come with that. As a play caller, I have to do a better job of getting our guys to understand we have to just affect the pocket. If we do that, the sacks will come. That’s something that, I know we have the guys that can do it and we’ll continue to work on that, and we’ll get better at it.”
He then went deep into the excuse tank.
“The thing is it’s not just those guys that have to be a part of affecting the pocket and when you look at it those guys are getting chipped quite a bit,” Glenn said. “I mean, we know exactly, and everybody knows exactly how they can impact the game when they get one-on-one blocks, so we have to do a better job of when we do get chipped of understanding how we can create a natural gain when it comes to that, and also being able to make sure we continue to get pocket push from the interior guys.
“So, again, when I say four-man rush, this is not one guy, this is not two guys, this is all four guys working together because it’s not a one-on-one game when it comes to pass rush. Pass rush is four guys working together.”
So far, that hasn’t produced much.
