The Jets came into the 2026 season with coaching uncertainty hanging over the building, and that cloud has only grown darker as the year has unfolded. Aaron Glenn has taken plenty of heat, but the pressure isn’t landing on the head coach alone. Two of his assistants - Karl Dunbar and Steve Heiden - are now part of the conversation after their position groups have sagged in key areas.
On paper, the defensive line was supposed to be one of New York’s strengths. That never really showed up.
Dunbar arrived this season with a strong reputation after eight years with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2018-25, and he was one of the more respected hires on the staff. But the results haven’t matched the optimism.
The Jets are tied for eighth in sacks with 19, but that total is misleading. Eight of those sacks came in Week 5, the biggest single-game sack output by any team this season.
Strip that out, and New York has just 11 sacks outside of that outlier, which comes out to fewer than two per game. The pass rush has also produced only 5.0 quarterback hits per game, good for 23rd in the league.
That inconsistency has mattered. Too often, opposing quarterbacks have had time to settle in and pick apart the defense, which has blunted what had been a solid Jets secondary for much of the season.
The run defense has been even harder to defend. The Jets were already showing cracks in August during training camp, as Robby Sabo noted, and those issues have carried straight into the season. Over the last five games, New York has allowed a league-worst 9.2 rushing first downs per game.
Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins put that problem on full display. Ollie Gordon II ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and even without De’Von Achane, Miami still found plenty of room to work. His absence didn’t matter much against a Jets front that couldn’t control the line.
That leaves the same uncomfortable question every week: how much of this belongs to the players, how much to the game plan, and how much to the coach? There’s no clean answer. Dunbar was arguably the most impressive coaching addition New York made this offseason, which makes the underwhelming production even more frustrating given the investments the team made in the unit.
The same kind of scrutiny now follows Heiden on the other side of the ball. New York’s offensive line coach was one of the few assistants retained for a second season, but the line’s problems keep piling up.
The debate starts with Geno Smith, who has taken heat for holding the ball too long, and with the linemen for failing to keep rushers out of the backfield. Both things can be true, and in New York they probably are.
Still, there’s a deeper issue when it comes to handling stunts and unusual blitz looks, especially in big moments. Those breakdowns have been a recurring theme, and they point toward coaching and the structure being asked of the unit.
The personnel hasn’t exactly been clean, either. Joe Tippmann has struggled lately next to Josh Myers, Armand Membou and Olu Fashanu have both had rough stretches, Dylan Parham has missed the last four games with an injury, and Jordan Meredith hasn’t provided stable relief behind them.
So yes, the Jets’ assistants are catching blame. But the full picture is messy. The schemes may not be good enough, and the execution may not be either.
In Other News...
Jets Starter Finally Explained His Sudden Week 7 Absence
Jarvis Brownlee Jr.s sudden absence from the Jets Week 7 matchup with the Dolphins made more sense once the reason came into focus. The starting nickel cornerback was inactive for disciplinary reasons after missing multiple mandatory meetings, leaving Aaron Glenn to answer questions without spelling out the details at first. ESPN later reported that Brownlee was fined and benched by the team, a notable development for a player who had been part of the defensive rotation heading into the game.
With Brownlee sidelined, rookie defensive back DAngelo Ponds saw a bigger role in Miami, giving the Jets a look at their depth in a spot that was suddenly up for grabs. The good news for New York is that Brownlee is expected back for Week 8 against the Raiders, but the episode still serves as a reminder that availability can change quickly when discipline enters the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Coaching Pressure Is Suddenly All About Aaron Glenn's Timeline
The Jets latest loss pushed them to 2-5 and, almost immediately, the conversation shifted from the scoreboard to Aaron Glenns future. Any time a season goes sideways this quickly, the head coach becomes the easiest target, and Glenn is no exception after a rough stretch that has left the team searching for answers and outside observers wondering how long the patience will last.
Even so, there are reasons this situation may not turn into a snap decision. Glenn has earned respect inside the building for his work developing young defensive talent, and he still has support from players and key veterans who see value in what he is trying to build. The bigger question now is whether the pressure around him stays at a simmer through the rest of the year, or whether the noise around his timeline gets louder before the season is over. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Tried To Address A Growing Defensive Line Problem But Missed Out
With injuries piling up along the defensive line, the Jets have been searching for help any way they can find it. They put in a waiver claim on defensive tackle Jonah Laulu, a move that fit the urgency of the moment as they try to patch together a front that has been hit hard and is heading into a Week 8 matchup with the Raiders.
The problem is the Jets did not land the reinforcement they were after, and the search has not exactly gotten easier. New York also brought in three defensive tackles for workouts on Tuesday and came away without a signing, leaving the team still sorting through options while trying to stabilize a run defense that could be tested against a Las Vegas offense that has struggled on the ground. [Read more 🡒]