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tRY IT NOWGREEN BAY, Wisc. — Aaron Glenn has to be hoping his first preseason as the Jets head coach goes better than his first as a player.
Back in 1994, Glenn was a first-round pick playing cornerback for first-year Jets coach Pete Carroll.
His debut came in Detroit and he gave up a touchdown to Herman Moore.
The following week in Philadelphia, things got worse.
Glenn was returning punts and he fumbled one and misplayed two others.
The fumble was recovered by Herschel Walker and it set up an Eagles touchdown.
“I don’t really want to talk about it because it wasn’t good,” Glenn joked this week about his first preseason memory. “It was against Philly. Herschel Walker was a personal protector, and I was catching punts. I see a 240-pound man just streaking down the field right after trying to catch a punt, that’s not a pretty sight, so I try to wipe that memory out of my mind, but you just brought it up, so…”
Glenn will be hoping his players fare better Saturday night when they open the preseason against the Packers.
Since Glenn arrived in January, he has tried to remake the Jets in his image — tough and detail-oriented.
That will be put to the test when they step onto Lambeau Field and face another team for the first time.
“You know what, every time we go on the grass, the first thing I expect is to win,” Glenn said. “I do, but I expect to win in ways that we really talk about what we’re trying to create during camp. I don’t want to ever go out in a game and everything that we talk about trying to build as far as how we’re trying to get this team to operate, I want to make sure that’s showing up on the tape, if that makes sense, and that’s important to me. Listen, I want the score to be in our favor, I do, but more or less than anything, I want the things that we’re trying to create to show up every play that we’re out there, and that’s what I’m looking for.”
It is not just Glenn’s debut, but also the Jets debut of quarterback Justin Fields, who has been up and down in training camp.
The microscope will be on Fields as he leads the starting offense onto the field.
Glenn said this week that the starters would play Saturday, but he would not say for how long.
It will likely be determined by how long their first drive is.
One good drive may be all Glenn wants to see out of them.
A three-and-out probably means another drive.
“We’re playing,” Glenn said of his starters. “I can’t tell you how much guys are going to play. That’s going to factor by how the game goes, but we’re playing.”
Fields said earlier in the week he would welcome the opportunity to play in the preseason.
It will give him a chance to work in a game with new offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand and all of the other new pieces on the Jets offense.
“I think we need to at least see the field each and every game,” Fields said. “I think that will be good for our team, it will be good for Tanner in the in-game stuff, it will be good for me, the guys on offense. I don’t think, I know some guys, they sit out the whole preseason, but I don’t think that’s the case for us. Just because of the new team, new offense, and stuff like that. So, that’s kind of how I feel about the situation.”
Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said it was not a surprise to the players that Glenn wants the starters to play.
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“I mean, if y’all look, we’ve been tackling in practice,” Gardner said. “So I was pretty sure that he was going to want us to be able to tackle another team, you know? So I’m embracing that and I’m looking forward to it, but I definitely was not surprised. None of us was surprised when he said that.”