Making Some Changes

Edition #938: The Jets can't keep running out the same players with the same excuses after every loss, time to switch up the receivers.

Good morning ☕

It’s a sad state of affairs when you start draft talk on the first day of October, but that was the theme of the comments yesterday as we come to accept the reality of our situation. The Jets sitting at 0-4 are almost certainly the first Thanksgiving turkey to be done.

When was the last time a team started 0-4 and made the playoffs? To find the answer to that question you have to go back to the early 90’s, a time of Beanie babies, fanny packs and frosted tips. The San Diego Chargers started the 1992 season 0-4 before going 11-1 the rest of the way.

Now I don’t think the Jets have 11 wins in their locker, but if you’re an eternal optimist still hoping for playoff football this season, there is your precedent. Instead I’m looking for the Jets to turn this season into a season of investigation, a season of finding solutions, finding the players who will be part of this re-build. To do that, they need to make some changes, and it should start at the wide receiver position.

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NEWS & NOTES

• Jermaine Johnson is considered day-to-day with his ankle injury, so there is a chance he’s ready to go on Sunday. Michael Carter II is likely out with a concussion according to Glenn. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. will practice this week and Glenn hinted he could play inside or out for the Jets. Unfortunately Braelon Allen is dealing with a “serious” knee injury and is still getting a second opinion.

• Glenn spoke about the tremendous Justin Fields TD run that unfortunately has largely been forgotten because of the loss: “He never ceases to amaze me when he’s running with the ball,” HC Aaron Glenn said. “Because he’s such a big, strong man, able to elude and he has the agility just to make people miss in space. I’m not surprised to see some of those things. Now the run itself was amazing because I think he went -- he ran a 43-yard touchdown, but he might’ve ran 90-some yards to score. But that’s who he is. I mean, I expect him to make plays like that just because of who he is. But those are dynamic plays by a dynamic player, so I expect that from him.”

• Aaron Glenn is still optimistic around the Jets stating: “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.”

• One of the pleasant revelations this season is the two young offensive tackles who the Jets hope will bookend the Jets line for the next decade: “Yeah, just two young players that are coming along,” O-line coach Steve Heiden said. “They’re on top of it. They’re smart. I’m really happy with how they prepare every day. These are two young guys that try to do it the right way every time we’re out on that field, so I’m happy about that.”

• The Jets have signed OL Liam Fornadel to the practice squad and released LB Ben Niemann. Fornadel is a familiar name for the Jets considering he spent camp here and played in all three pre-season games. The Jets only signed Ben Niemann last week but obviously weren’t impressed enough to use him in the game against Miami.

• It’s interesting that the Jets chose not to add another RB considering it’s liely that Braelon Allen will miss some time. They currently have Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis with Kene Nwangwu available but battling injuries to start the season. On the practice squad they have Lawrance Toafili and I guess you could count FB Andrew Beck as an option as well. Looks pretty thin.

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Finding hope in a lost season

There is nothing worse in a lost season than having to watch players every Sunday that you know will not be here beyond the season and certainly won’t be here for when you eventually turn it around.

I think the quickest way to the lost the interest of fans is to continue to play underperforming veterans ahead of the kids.

Now there is a compromise that you obviously have to hit. You can’t have a 53 man roster made up of UDFA’s, it doesn’t really worth like that. To get the best out of the UDFA’s and to give them the best chance to succeed, they need to be mixed in with veterans who have experience with NFL Sundays.

Saying that, here are a few players I’d really like Glenn to elevate this weekend for the game against the Cowboys, at 0-4 it can’t get much worse.