In the aftermath of the Jets' fourth loss of the season -- and the third by a single score -- HC Aaron Glenn said the focus must be on creating solutions rather than simply identifying problems.
"There's a number of reasons why we didn't win that game," Glenn said. "And to me, I want to focus on the how more than the why. And there are some things that we know that we have to do to clean those things up. And one, and most important, is the turnovers."
The Jets have lost the turnover battle in each of their four games this season -- including Monday's 27-21 defeat in Miami -- and they are the only team in the league that has not recorded a takeaway through Week 4. The Jets have turned the ball over 7times, resulting in 4 touchdowns and 34 total points for opponents. Three of those turnovers occurred in Week 4.
"I think it's an ongoing process when it comes to tackling, but when you take a look at defensively -- man, they were put in some bad spots and you can't put your defense in those spots when it comes to the turnovers," Glenn said. "But still, the name of the defense is limiting points."
To address the negative turnover margin, Glenn said taking the ball away will be a point of emphasis in practice.
"Every time the ball is in the air, we have to attack the ball," he said. "When the runner has the ball, we have to go for the punch out while still trying to make the tackle. … If we clean those things up, I think we'll be happy about the direction that we're going."
Despite the mental mistakes -- including 13 penalties that Glenn also said need to be eliminated -- there were some encouraging moments during Monday's loss. QB Justin Fields was productive and efficient in his return after missing the Week 3 game with a concussion. He completed 20-of-27 passes for 226 yards, 1 touchdown and a 111.0 passer rating. Though he was strip-sacked on fourth down in the second quarter, his next fourth down opportunity resulted in a 43-yard touchdown scramble to cut the Jets' deficit to 7.
And after two quiet weeks on the ground, the Jets run game came to life as the team rushed for a season-high 197 yards. RB Breece Hall and Fields led the way with 81 yards apiece.
"When it comes to the game yesterday, nothing changes from the way that I think," Glenn said. "Disappointed in the way that we played, but man, there are some encouraging things that happened in that game. If you told me that we would rush for almost 200 yards on offense, if you told me that Justin Fields would pass for almost 230 yards at 70-some percent, I would have told you that we won that game, alright. But we didn't."
As the Jets turn their focus to a Week 5 home matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, Glenn said it will be important to remain solution-oriented as the team looks for its first win.
"Sometimes you've got to stop asking why and start talking about how," Glenn said. "Start having solutions for some of those things. I don't want to put those solutions out because I want to keep those solutions in-house between our guys and I know exactly what we're going to do to try to help on some of those things. I think it's going to be very beneficial for us moving forward when it comes to that, so every day we've got to continue to work on those things."
