The Jets remain on the road for Week 4 with an upcoming battle slated in Chicago against the Bears. It's the third NFC North opponent the Jets will face in a row – and the familiarity for HC Aaron Glenn continues.
In Detroit from 2021-24, Glenn worked opposite Ben Johnson, who was the Lions' offensive coordinator for three seasons (2022-24) during which the Lions won 36 games including back-to-back NFC North titles. Glenn and Johnson both accepted head coaching jobs in the same cycle and are in Year 2 with their respective teams.
"We were so competitive in move the ball situations on how we wanted to beat each other, but it made both of us better, I will say that," Glenn said about going up against Johnson during Lions practices. "He's a damn good coach."
To get an idea of just how competitive those sessions were, Glenn said to go back and watch "Hard Knocks" from training camp in 2022.
"When you have coordinators, offensive and defensive coordinators, you're really planning practice," Glenn said. "You're really planning the things you want to see against each other so the communication between me and him was always outstanding. ... Just talking offensive and defensive football was good to have."
The Bears (2-1) are coming off a 27-7 "Monday Night Football" victory over the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jets (1-2) fell to the Detroit Lions, 31-24, despite tying the game late in the fourth quarter.
Chicago will likely be without its starting QB Caleb Willams for another week after he sustained a hamstring injury in Week 2. Against the Eagles, the Bears looked to their third-string QB, Case Keenum, since their backup, Tyson Bagent, hadn't cleared concussion protocol until a couple of days before the game.
Keenum was efficient, completing 24-of-34 passes for 247 yards, 2 TD and an additional rushing score in his first regular-season action since 2023. As for who will be under center in Week 4, Johnson has not officially named a starter.
WR Kalif Raymond leads the Bears with 214 yards on 19 receptions this season and according to Next Gen Stats, all but one of his targets have been under 20 air yards.
"[Johnson] has those guys playing really, really well," Glenn said. "We're looking forward to having a good week of practice and getting ready to go compete against a really good team. Our guys will be ready to do that."
The Bears and Jets are the NFL's two best clock controlling teams, each averaging over 34 minutes with the ball. Chicago only has had the ball for 26 seconds more than the Green & White on average setting Sunday up to be a battle of who can sustain drives and momentum.
Chicago's offense also features RBs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who each had 100-plus yards in their Week 1, 59-37, win over the Carolina Panthers, but will face the Jets, who have the NFL's seventh-ranked rushing defense, allowing only 87.3 yards per game.
Sunday marks the 14th meeting between the Jets and Bears and the first one since the Green & White won by 31-10 in 2022 when WR Garrett Wilson had 6 receptions for 95 yards and 2 TD. The Jets last played in Solider Field in 2018.
Wilson and TE Kenyon Sadiq each had over 100 receiving yards and a TD against the Lions in Week 3. This season, Sadiq ranks second among rookies with 12 receptions and 143 receiving yards. QB Geno Smith completed 83.8% (31 of 37) of his passes for 321 yards and 3 TDs and he leads the league with a 75.5% completion percentage this season, the highest by a Jet quarterback through Week 3 in franchise history.
