The New York Jets didn’t just have a tough season in 2025 - they hit rock bottom.
A 3-14 finish only tells part of the story. The Jets closed out the year with one of the ugliest five-game stretches in recent memory, failed to record a single interception all season, and had their leading receiver vanish from the stat sheet after early October. It wasn’t just a bad season on the field - it was a signal flare for a franchise in deep turmoil.
Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who played all 17 games for the Jets last season, didn’t mince words when asked about the state of the team. In a candid interview, Phillips offered a raw and revealing look inside the locker room - and it wasn’t pretty.
“Culture matters,” Phillips said. “I think AG inherited a very cancerous, truculent group.
Top to bottom. It's not individual people's fault.
I was there for one season, and it was a very difficult season, and I almost wanted to waiver on some of my thoughts and my beliefs and my optimism. I can't imagine being there year after year after year, and not seeing the results that you wanted.
And it tainted people.”
That’s a striking statement from a veteran who’s seen both sides of the NFL. Phillips spent seven years with the Bills and Vikings before joining the Jets, and he’s been around winning organizations. His words weren’t just frustration - they were a pointed diagnosis of a team plagued by a losing mentality that’s seeped into the foundation.
What Phillips described - a locker room where losing becomes the norm, where players are worn down by the weight of unmet expectations - is exactly the kind of culture that derails rebuilds before they ever get started. And that’s the locker room Aaron Glenn walked into.
Glenn, brought in to help reset the course of the franchise, didn’t just inherit a roster in need of talent. He inherited a team that, according to Phillips, had been emotionally and mentally worn down by years of futility.
That’s not a quick fix. That’s not something you solve with a couple of draft picks or a splashy free agent.
That’s a multi-year, ground-up rebuild - and it starts with changing the mindset.
Phillips didn’t call out individual players. He didn’t point fingers.
But the message was clear: the Jets had become a place where losing was accepted, and that’s a dangerous place to be in professional sports. For a team trying to build something new, buy-in is everything.
And when a locker room is filled with players who’ve stopped believing, even the best-laid plans can fall apart fast.
There’s no sugarcoating how bad 2025 was. But what makes Phillips’ comments so important is that they shine a light on why it was so bad.
The Jets weren’t just outplayed - they were out-energized, out-believed. And when that happens, results spiral.
Glenn’s challenge now is clear. The roster needs work - no doubt.
But the culture? That’s the real rebuild.
And as Phillips made clear, that’s going to take more than a single offseason.
This isn’t about assigning blame. It’s about acknowledging the depth of the hole the Jets are trying to climb out of. And if Phillips’ assessment is any indication, the climb is steep - but at least now, with Glenn at the helm and the issues out in the open, the work to fix it can truly begin.