The Jets (2-4) fell, 26-19, to the New England Patriots (4-2) at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Trailing 17-3 at halftime, the Green & White had a 10-point run and cut into New England's lead but ultimately fell short.
HC Aaron Glenn said postgame that he isn't happy with the Jets' record, but he does "feel good" with the effort his team played with.
Here are three takeaways from Week 6.
Second Half Surge
The Jets trailed by 17-3 at halftime and the Patriots received the ball out of the break. But the momentum New England had was halted when CB Brandon Stephens broke up a fourth-down pass intended for WR A.J. Brown to turn over the ball on downs and put the Green & White's offense on the field.
Just 3 plays later, QB Geno Smith threw a deep TD pass to WR Omar Cooper Jr. It's the second-half resilience the Jets have shown on several occasions, playing complementary football to keep themselves in the game.
"Had a chance to fight back and try to get ourselves back and get ourselves in good position to give ourselves a chance to win and we just came up short at the very end," HC Aaron Glenn said. "That's something we have to fix being able to do that, especially against a good team."
The Jets' start to the second half was one of the positives Glenn could point to after reviewing the tape.
In the third quarter, the Jets prevented the Patriots from scoring and got within 4 points, 17-13, of New England's lead after Cooper's TD catch and a 36-yard field goal by K Jason Sanders, who had three others in the game.
The Hustle Play
The Jets' defense provided the offense with two extra possessions in key second-half moments against the Patriots -- LB Jamien Sherwood was involved with both.
In the third quarter, rookie edge David Bailey ripped the ball away from New England RB TreyVon Henderson and Sherwood recovered the first fumble of his six-year NFL career.
But his hustling effort to force a fumble on what would've been a sizeable gain for the Patriots as QB Drake Maye found WR DeMario Douglas in space for nearly 40 yards, was a representation of how Glenn wants his defense to play.
"That embodies what AG has been instilling in us, that embodies who I am as a person but before we even walked out on that field [Demario Davis] gave a little speech in the locker room and he basically just said 'What are you as an individual going to do for this team?'" Sherwood said about that play. "That struck something in me."
S Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered the ball, and the Jets turned the turnover into points with Sanders making a 40-yard field goal.
"That was just a play on effort," Davis said. "It was a phenomenal effort of our playstyle."
Sherwood stressed the importance of believing that "all it takes is one play," regardless of what the score is.
"You have to believe you're going to make a play. You have to believe in yourself that you can make a play," Sherwood said. "You just never know until the clock hits zero."
Short Yardage, 2-Minute Execution
The Jets missed several opportunities and HC Aaron Glenn acknowledged that the team needs to get better in short yardage and 2-minute situations.
In the final two minutes of the first half, the Patriots scored 10 points and increased their lead to 14 points, 17-3, at the break. The Jets had the ball once in that sequence and went three-and-out before an Austin McNamara punt.
"We have to be able to possess the ball more to go ahead and put stress on their defense to try to score points," Glenn said postgame. "On defense, you've got to make sure we stop them when we get that opportunity."
In short-yardage situations in the first half, the Jets turned the ball over twice on downs, failing to get a first down on fourth-and-2 from the New England 30 and fourth-and-1 from the New England 39.
"We didn't finish drives when we were actually moving the ball," Glenn said. "You put all that together and that's exactly what it is, just missed opportunities. And to be able to fix that, you have to go through practice, you have to dial in on those things and make sure you continue to do them over and over and over again."
Cleaning up these aspects of the offense will help its efficiency throughout the season. There's unwavering confidence in the personnel -- more work just needs to be done.
"I think it's just the execution," QB Geno Smith said. "I think the guys on the field, we know they're all capable."
Up next, the Jets face the Miami Dolphins (0-5) at MetLife Stadium in Week 7.
