The Jets came into Week 6 looking for their first AFC East win under Aaron Glenn, riding the momentum of a gritty victory over the Browns. Instead, they walked out of Gillette Stadium with another frustrating loss, this one 26-19 to the Patriots, and a familiar feeling that the building in Foxborough still has their number.
For a team trying to show real progress, the rough patches were impossible to miss. Some were on the offensive line.
Some were in the run game. And some came at the worst possible moments, like Geno Smith’s first interception of the season, which arrived early in the fourth quarter with New York already trailing by 10.
Joe Tippmann had a tough one again. After signing a four-year, $62 million deal this summer, the expectations are obvious, and the spotlight has only grown heavier over the past few weeks. On a third-and-16 late in the first quarter, Christian Barmore drove him back into Smith for a sack, a play that fit the broader picture of how Tippmann has looked lately.
The pass rush didn’t give the Jets much relief either. Glenn backed off the blitz after last week’s eight-sack outburst against Cleveland, but that only exposed how little heat New York can generate with four rushers.
Drake Maye had all the time in the world on New England’s first touchdown, taking 5.61 seconds to throw before finding Romeo Doubs for a 42-yard score. And that came against a Patriots line missing three starters on the right side.
One of the few steady positives was Braelon Allen. With Breece Hall missing a third straight game, Allen handled the lead-back job and looked comfortable doing it.
He finished with 17 carries for 78 yards and was basically the only thing keeping the Jets’ offense afloat in the first half. Even when Hall returns, Allen has clearly done enough to force his way into a bigger role.
Still, the running game as a whole remains oddly hard to figure out. ESPN’s Benjamin Solak highlighted the split in short-yardage situations, and the numbers were jarring: at least three yards to go, the Jets had 14 carries for 76 yards, four explosives and four first downs.
With two or fewer yards needed, they managed six carries for five yards and two first downs. Much of that comes back to Frank Reich’s preference for running out of shotgun in those make-or-break spots, a choice that may make sense on paper even if it keeps falling flat in practice.
Then there’s the end-of-half problem, which keeps biting them. The Jets can’t get off the field, can’t score before the break and keep digging themselves deeper. According to the CBS broadcast, they had been outscored 90-6 in the final two minutes of the first half over the last two seasons before New England’s final touchdown, pushing that number to 97-6 in the Glenn era.
There was at least one encouraging return. Omar Cooper Jr., the Jets’ 30th overall pick in April, made his first appearance since Week 1 and made it count. His first catch and what should have been a touchdown were erased by an offensive pass interference call, but he answered with six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, including a 48-yard strike from Smith.
Even with that spark, the result turned on the play that ended Smith’s interception-free start. He entered the game with 165 passes without a pick, a sharp contrast to last season with the Raiders, when he led the league in interceptions.
That streak ended in the fourth quarter when he overthrew Kenyon Sadiq on a deep ball and Charles Woods came down with it. The Jets didn’t run out of time right there, but the game felt like it had already slipped away.
In Other News...
Bart Scott Just Put Geno Smiths Biggest Jets Concern On Blast
Geno Smith has done a good job protecting the football lately, going five straight games without an interception, but the deeper issue around the Jets offense has been the punishment he has absorbed. He has taken 16 sacks over his last four games, a stretch that has put him at the top of the league in yards lost to sacks and kept the conversation centered on protection rather than production.
The concern only grows with Dylan Parham still sidelined by a knee injury after missing the Jets' last three games, leaving more uncertainty up front for an offense already dealing with pressure. Bart Scott recently pointed to the idea that Smith may have to do more with his legs if the pocket keeps collapsing, which is easier said than done given how much less dynamic that part of his game has become with age. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Get An Encouraging Kenyon Sadiq Sign Before Patriots Game
The Jets got a timely boost for their divisional matchup with New England when rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq moved closer to returning from a concussion. Selected 16th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, Sadiq has become part of the offense this season with 14 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, giving New York another young target as it tries to steady itself after an uneven start.
New York enters the game at 2-3 with a chance to get back to .500, and having Sadiq available would matter in a meeting that already carries the usual AFC East edge. His status had been a question after he was forced out last week, but Friday's full practice was the encouraging sign the Jets were looking for heading into Sunday. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Inactives Could Shape Aaron Glenns Biggest Spot Yet
The injury report for Sunday's Jets-Patriots matchup already has a little bit of everything in it, and for a team still trying to settle into the Aaron Glenn era, availability could matter as much as scheme. New York has ruled out four players and listed three more as questionable, though those players are expected to suit up, leaving the final game-day picture a little clearer than it first looked.
One name that stands out is Breece Hall, who has been ruled out for New York, removing one of the offense's most important playmakers from the equation. On the other side, New England enters with two players out and a much longer questionable list, and the Patriots are also expected to get several key contributors back, including A.J. Brown, Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson and Christian Gonzalez, which could make the margin for error even smaller for a Jets team trying to manage the attrition of Week 6. [Read more 🡒]