Aaron Glenn spent much of his second offseason as the New York Jets’ coach trying to win over a fan base that has seen plenty of frustration. On Sunday afternoon in Tennessee, that same fan base made one thing loud and clear: Glenn was not Robert Saleh.
At Nissan Stadium, Jets fans kept chanting Glenn’s name through the fourth quarter of New York’s 23-10 win over the Titans. The score barely hints at how one-sided it felt, with the Jets’ defense smothering Tennessee and holding the Titans under 200 yards of total offense.
The many #Jets fans in attendance appear to be chanting "Aa-ron Glenn! Aa-ron Glenn!" #Jets
- Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) September 13, 2026
That left Saleh, now the Titans coach, hearing it from Jets fans again. Tennessee came in as a 1.5-point favorite, but the result only added to the list of Week 1 disappointments for a team that looked flat from the start.
Saleh had spent the buildup to the game taking the high road about his October 2024 dismissal while also insisting he had made plenty of the right calls during his time with the Jets. Technically, he wasn’t wrong. But that didn’t change the way Sunday played out.
The national media had spent the offseason talking up Saleh as a coach whose New York run was undone by bad luck. Instead, the Titans looked a lot like the Jets teams that left fans exasperated during Saleh’s three-plus seasons on the sideline. Tennessee was sluggish, disjointed and unable to get much going.
Cam Ward averaged 4.4 yards per completion, and lead running back Tony Pollard had only seven carries. Tennessee also guaranteed $14 million to blocking tight end Daniel Bellinger, who finished with a 7-yard catch on his lone target.
For Jets fans, it was the kind of day that felt painfully familiar, only this time they were on the other side of it. Saleh’s first impression as a head coach has never really gone away, and Sunday only reinforced it.
Geno Smith completed 19 of 24 passes for 215 yards and was not sacked. On the ground, the Jets averaged 3.9 yards per carry, with Smith accounting for seven yards on six attempts. Breece Hall ran for 102 yards, Braelon Allen added 40, and the two combined for 142 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.
Former Jets defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, who also played for Saleh with the 49ers, criticized how the organization handled Saleh’s October 2024 firing last week. If Sunday was any indication, both men may want to be thinking about where they’ll be in 2027.
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Jets Win Still Left Fans With One Big Worry Before Packers
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Still, the win came with a few issues that could linger into the Packers matchup. Injuries to Omar Cooper Jr., Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jarvis Brownlee were all part of the afternoon, and Jason Sanders, elevated from the practice squad, went 3-for-4 on field goals after missing from 54 yards. The Jets got the result they needed, but the health and kicking questions are not the kind of loose ends a team wants hanging around this early. [Read more 🡒]
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Sanders then missed a critical fourth-and-8 field goal attempt that would have extended the Jets lead, a miss that only sharpened the uncertainty around his standing. For Aaron Glenn and the Jets, the bigger issue now is less about what happened on one kick and more about whether they can afford to keep waiting for the answer at a position that can swing games fast. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Glenn's Jets Plan Now Comes Down To One Big Test
Aaron Glenn entered this Jets job with a clear identity: a defensive-minded head coach trying to reshape the organization with buy-in, discipline and a steadier foundation. The early read on his approach has been encouraging in the ways that often matter most in a reset year, from the way he connects with players to the way the staff has been built around him, including the additions of Geno Smith and Frank Reich. With Woody Johnson close to the process and 2025 framed as a rebuilding season, the real question is less about flash than whether the roster and the culture can move in the same direction long enough to matter later.
The comparison to Seattles Mike Macdonald is telling because it points to the kind of long-view patience Glenn may need. The Jets are not being judged solely on immediate results right now, even if the season will be difficult to navigate, and there is already a sense that meaningful progress could show up more fully in 2026. For Glenn, the test is whether his message continues to hold up through the grind, when the losses pile up and the easy optimism of a new hire gives way to the harder work of proving the plan can actually take root. [Read more 🡒]