Jets Coach Aaron Glenn Emphasizes Discipline in Penalties

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During training camp, Aaron Glenn was quite clear about one of his priorities for his inaugural season as head coach of the Jets.

Glenn aimed to tighten up the team’s approach to penalties this year.

In the past two seasons, under coaches Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets had the highest number of penalty shootouts in the NFL.

This season, Glenn is committed to cultivating a more disciplined team.

So far, through 13 games, the team has shown promising results.

The Jets currently sit at 14th place in the NFL with 88 penalties.

Admittedly, the early part of the season was rocky, featuring 13 penalties against the Dolphins in Week 4 and 10 penalties against the Cowboys in Week 5. However, they haven’t seen a double-digit penalty game since.

“I think the guys have done a solid job,” Glenn noted on Friday. “We were leading the league in penalties for two years, and at one point, we were halfway to that mark already this season, so reducing them is encouraging. We started strong but have managed to calm things down. The players really seem to get that this wasn’t what we wanted for our team.”

According to data from nflpenalties.com, the Jets have incurred 45 penalties on offense, 33 on defense, and 10 on special teams.

The most frequent infraction has been false starts (21), followed by offensive holding (13), defensive pass interference (8), and defensive holding (8).

Pre-snap penalties total 37.

The players drawing the most penalties include left guard John Simpson with nine, right tackle Armando Menbu with seven, and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee, also with seven.

The Jets are projected to finish with 115 penalties this season, which would be an improvement compared to the 137 in 2024 and 124 in 2023 combined.

“The players have done a commendable job in reducing those,” Glenn remarked. “To keep this going, and like all aspects of executing our game plan offensively, the coaching staff must prepare the team effectively and ensure a unified execution.”

Furthermore, the Jets have placed rookie cornerback Azaleye Thomas on injured reserve, effectively ending his season. The third-round pick had started five games and sustained a shoulder injury last week against the Dolphins. The team activated linebacker Cam Jones from IR and promoted quarterback Adrian Martinez and defensive back Tre Brown from the practice squad, with Martinez set to back up Brady Cook.