Aaron Glenn may have already lost the Jets’ locker room and he hasn’t even had his first game yet
Aaron Rodgers is a polarizing figure. There are those who hate him and those that love him. Some believe everything he does is wrong and some believe that everything he does is right. So, when Rodgers joined the Pat McAfee Show this week and gave details on his separation with the New York Jets, there […]
Aaron Rodgers is a polarizing figure. There are those who hate him and those that love him. Some believe everything he does is wrong and some believe that everything he does is right. So, when Rodgers joined the Pat McAfee Show this week and gave details on his separation with the New York Jets, there were those that criticized him and those that celebrated his stance.
As for me? I was much more worried about what it means for the Jets future than I was with what it meant for Aaron Rodgers and the past.
We can argue all day about if Rodgers was the right fit for the Jets in 2025, and if you want to tell me that the Jets moved on from Rodgers because they thought he wasn’t a good enough quarterback, then I can live with that. If Glenn had come out and said “Aaron, we feel like the injury and the age have caught up to you and you aren’t the same player you were, thank you for all you have done” I would be 100% okay with that.
But that isn’t what happened.
The part of the exchange that stood out to me was around the 1:40 mark when Rodgers asked Glenn why he didn’t want to move forward with him as quarterback of the New York Jets. Glenn responded, “I don’t want to be up in the front of the room saying something having guys looking back at you”
Rodgers had the same question I had after hearing that comment, “are you assuming that I would be in the back of the room during a team meeting undermining what you are saying? I said ‘you don’t know me’”. Love Rodgers or hate him, if this story is true, this is a troubling detail for Aaron Glenn as he begins his tenure as the New York Jets head coach.
Aaron Glenn is already worried about players not respecting him. Glenn is supposed to be the head coach and is worried about players not listening to him. You must earn that respect, and getting rid of someone in the manner described is not going to do much to garner respect in the locker room. Rodgers, by all accounts, was very well regarded and respected in the New York Jets locker room the last two seasons, and for Glenn to get rid of him for that reason says more about Glenn than it does Rodgers.
Simply put, it sounds as if Glenn was scared of Rodgers. Scared of having someone who isn’t a blind “yes man” in the locker room. Someone who could challenge him. That is not the mentality you want as a head coach. Glenn needs to demand the attention and respect of the locker room no matter what. You don’t become a leader of an organization by getting rid of anyone who may (and I have to strongly emphasize “may”) oppose you. You earn the respect and get rid of troublemakers after they make trouble. Not before.
Which sounds like a strong leader: Glenn got rid of Rodgers because he wasn’t on the same page as Glenn or Glenn got rid of Rodgers because he may have questioned Glenn? If you said the latter, you just hate Aaron Rodgers.
Even better for Glenn, would have been guys turning to see Aaron Rodgers giving Aaron Glenn his undivided attention. What message would that have sent? Instead, you have players who learned that their coach is afraid of anyone who may be a locker room leader and isn’t Glenn.
Glenn will not make it far in the NFL if he treats his players and his team like “it’s my way or the highway”. I’m not saying that he needs to bend the knee to any player, especially one that played as bad as Rodgers did last year, but players demand a certain level of respect and Glenn did not show it in the meeting with Rodgers.
Again, this has nothing to do with Rodgers. Whether you hate him, love him, think he is the GOAT, or you think he is washed. This is how the head coach of the New York Jets treated a high profile leader in the locker room and his reason for doing so. All of which point to a troubling start for Glenn.
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