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A quote that got a lot of play on Tuesday was Aaron Glenn saying:
“To me, it’s a process, and I’ve talked to our staff about this. I’m not here to talk about the playoffs. I’m not here to talk about the Super Bowl when the players first get in. To me, it’s the process of actually making it that point. The two things I want to make sure we do first and foremost is establish the culture that we’ve been talking about and try to create a building environment.”
That quote was from the NFL Owner’s Meeting in Palm Beach last week.
It’s the right approach right now in April.
No doubt about it.
They have to establish a better culture.
However, the goal at the end of the year should always be winning the Super Bowl.
As former GM Joe Douglas said more than once while on the job.
“Look, everyone’s goal is the same at the end of the year,” Douglas said. “Everyone’s goal is to be holding up the trophy at the end of the year.”
That absolutely should be the goal every year.
But right now, the Jets can’t look that far ahead.
They had to buy into “process thinking,” a Nick Saban philosophy—focus on whatever is next in the process and do it the best you can. In Saban’s opinion, if you do that daily, you should achieve good results down the road.
Aside from building a culture, the players just need to focus now on whatever their job is each day—getting stronger, learning the playbook, improving technique, and so forth.
However, there should be no mulligan for the Jets this year just because it’s Aaron Glenn’s first year on the job, in what is viewed by some of a rebuilding year.
Whoever told SI’s Albert Breer the following for a February 17 article, might want to tweak their thinking – “For Aaron Rodgers, conversely, it means being with a team that will lean into winning right now, the way the Jets have the last couple years, and the way the Broncos and Buccaneers did years ago behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Whether or not that sort of team will be out there for Rodgers is an open question. But after the last two years, the Jets weren’t going to be that team again.”
Be what team? Not leaning into “winning right now?”
That is suspect thinking.
Just ask the 2024 Washington Commanders under first-year coach Dan Quinn and first-year general manager Adam Peters – they went 12-5 and advanced to the playoffs and upset the Detroit Lions.
It was considered a rebuilding year for the Commanders, but they still won the division.
So there is no excuse for the Jets not to compete for the ultimate prize this year.
They don’t get a pass because they cut Aaron Rodgers and are going with reclamation project Justin Fields. That was their own choice.
So two things can be true at the same time – you can avoid focusing on the Super Bowl in the spring to help rebuild the culture, but during the season, you always strive for the ultimate goal.
April 9, 2025
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