For first-year HC Aaron Glenn, a strong and successful team isn't built around specific players. It's built around play style.
And in Sunday's season opener at MetLife Stadium, Glenn said he was pleased with the product the Jets put on the field.
"Overall, I thought we showed the brand of football that we wanted to play for the most part," he said. "I'm looking forward to going into next week."
The Jets fell to the Steelers, 34-32, as two highly productive offenses exchanged blows throughout the afternoon, and the Jets ultimately surrendered a Chris Boswell 60-yard field goal that they were unable to answer with just over a minute remaining in the game.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Glenn said he was encouraged by a lot of what he saw during Sunday's opener -- beginning with QB Justin Fields and the offensive performance.
"I've said this a number of times -- I just want our quarterback to be efficient," Glenn said. "And he went out and he did that. With him and the run game, the way that he runs the read-option game, he makes a decision on keeping the ball -- I thought he was outstanding on that."
Fields was efficient in his Green & White debut, completing 16-of-22 passes for 218 yards, 1 touchdown and a 119.1 passer rating. The elusive QB only took a single sack during the game, and he picked up 48 yards on the ground, finding the end zone twice on runs. He commanded an offense that scored on four consecutive offensive possessions during the first half, picked up 23 first downs in the game and outgained the Steelers' offense in total net yards -- 394 to 271.
"Some of these throws that he got out of the pocket, set himself up, got his shoulders square and delivered the ball -- I thought it was outstanding," Glenn said. "To me, those are the things that he continued to improve on, and he's going to continue to improve on those things. It's the first game. I expect him to continue to get better at that."
The physical, tough identity that Glenn has prioritized was on display Sunday as the Jets got the ground game going, propelled by the effort of RB Breece Hall. The fourth-year back rushed for 107 yards and added 38 receiving yards in his most productive outing since Week 6 of the 2024 season.
Glenn said Hall's performance, and that of the offensive line, "speaks for itself." While the O-line lost a key piece with RG Alijah Vera-Tucker's placement on IR ahead of Sunday's season opener, the unit didn't skip a beat -- a testament to the culture Glenn is successfully building from the inside out.
"Those guys, they didn't blink," he said. "Not one bit. And that shows a lot from what we've been trying to create all through training camp of, 'one guy is going to go down, that's not going to stop this train of what we are trying to do.' "
While the Jets did not come away with the win on Sunday, Glenn believes the foundation is in place for an offense that flashed potential early.
"I just look forward to our offense continuing to build that brand of football that we want to play."
