Aaron Glenn, the head coach of the New York Jets, responded to his team’s recent preseason loss to the Giants by organizing an unusual walkthrough practice without coaches present. Glenn asked his players to conduct the session themselves, with quarterback Justin Fields guiding the offense and linebacker Jamien Sherwood leading the defense.
Safety Andre Cisco, who joined the Jets this season, said Wednesday, “That’s a first time for me. (…) Yeah, (an) ownership thing and also just us owning the calls, owning the defense and really leaning into what is it that our coaches are going to be calling and why are they calling it, and can we even step in and kind of predict it as a defense? So Sherwood kind of took over those duties on that day. And it was just player-led from that standpoint. (…) So we gathered ourselves, we took ownership of how many reps we were going to get, and then just holding guys accountable, how we were getting to the ball, executing the calls. And so it was effective.”
The walkthrough took place Sunday at their facility in Florham Park, according to team clarifications. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson previously described details of the session during an interview with “Overtime.”
Cornerback Michael Carter II commented on Glenn’s leadership approach: “They’ve said it, you know, the great teams are those player-led teams,” Carter said. “And the players are accountable and we understand what the standard is and how we need to get things done and how things should operate. And so we got a chance to go out there and kind of prove it for the first time, just it being us.”
Glenn has cited influences from mentors such as Hall of Famer Bill Parcells as he shapes his own coaching methods. He previously coordinated Detroit’s defense under Dan Campbell in 2022 when a similar player-led practice was held.
Cornerback Brandon Stephens also shared his perspective: “Yeah, it was personally different for me because I’ve never experienced that, just not having coaches out there,” Stephens said. “(…) But I think it was great for us to lead the groups by ourselves. We didn’t have a coach to put us through like a little, slow tempo individual (drills). (…) So it was cool for us to just like jell and just go out there and do what we love to do.”
Glenn continues integrating strategies learned throughout his career as both a player and coach as he leads his team forward.
