When running back Breece Hall was asked by reporters in training camp what he believes HC Aaron Glenn is looking for in a football player, the first quality he listed was "smart."
"He wants a football player that's smart, that's going to give 110 [percent] every play and someone he can rely on," Hall said. "I think those are the biggest three things."
It's clear that Glenn has established high expectations for his operation early on during his first training camp as a head coach, and his players understand that discipline and making smart decisions will be focal points heading into the 2025 season. Glenn is emphasizing this in several ways, most notably by having officials out at practice throughout the summer.
"I want the officials here as much as possible, and the players know that," Glenn said last week. "It's no secret that we were the most penalized team in the league last year, so that's one of the things that I want to nip in the bud early. Making sure that the discipline part of what we do -- we fix that now. You cannot win games in this league with an undisciplined team, so all the penalties that we had last year, we're knocking those things out, and we want to make sure that we're good at that."
The Jets had five games with 10-plus penalties last season and three games with 100-plus penalty yards. While Glenn said there is an important distinction between pre-snap penalties and competitive penalties -- such as pass interference calls that you can "go back and forth" on -- Glenn's focus is on eliminating the preventable offenses.
"False starts, jumping offsides, hitting after plays, the dumb stuff -- we've got to knock those out," he said. "And we control those. Those are the things I want to make sure we get rid of."
OL John Simpson, who said players must "walk a line" when it comes to being aggressive and being smart, thinks the emphasis on discipline will help establish good habits early.
"I think AG is doing a great job of instilling how important it is that we don't do those things and stuff like that," he said. He added: "I think it's in the guys' minds to lock in, hone the details because that's a part of it, it's the details. So, like I said, he's doing a great job with that."
As competition and physicality ramps up with pads on, this will continue to be a point of emphasis.
"We're striving for perfection of every detail when it comes to offense and defense," Glenn said. He added: "The officials are going to be here -- we're going to be here. We're going to knock that out."
