5 easy steps to get Jets back on track after competitive start to 2026 season

New York Jets fans who wanted to see progress after their unwatchable 2025 season should be very encouraged by their start to the 2026 season, but those who are sick of losing and "moral victories" will look at the 2-4 record and wonder if this team is going to turn it around.

The good news for Jets fans is that the effort and buy-in seem to be there, and many of the biggest problems can be fixed with enough focus and effort.

Making these five changes could be what this team needs to get back to a winning mindset, especially with a hard part of their schedule in the books.

5 easy steps New York Jets can take to improve after 2-4 start

1. Lean more on the quick passing game

The Jets can move the ball well at times, but they have two fatal flaws on offense. They don't challenge teams vertically until the game situation forces them to, and many of their pass plays take a long time to develop. When paired with Geno Smith holding the ball too long, executing on the opponent's side of the field is often a chore.

The Jets will be back at full strength when Adonai Mitchell and Breece Hall return, but that is no excuse for Frank Reich to be this limited in "got to have it" situations.

2. Use Kenyon Sadiq more as a receiver

Since Sadiq's 100-yard breakout game against the Detroit Lions, he has caught three passes for 15 yards in three games. Mason Taylor coming back has thrown a wrench into things, but Reich's insistence on using Sadiq as a screen and drag receiver seems unimaginative. Reich needs to use Sadiq's speed down the seam, as he did in the Lions game.

3. Keep Braelon Allen involved when Breece Hall returns

Even though Hall signed his big contract in the offseason, the Jets need to operate on some sort of timeshare after Allen's strong performance. Allen had the two best games of his career against Cleveland and New England, topping 100 yards in both of those games. Allen is starting to put it all together, and they can't let him waste away on the bench.

New York Jets need to improve their defensive line

4. Give some of Harrison Phillips' snaps to Darrell Jackson Jr.

Phillips is an amazing locker room leader and stopped the run last year, but he is in decline. The combination of invisible pass-rush juice and middling run defense is one of the main reasons the defensive line has been a major disappointment. Jackson is still a rookie, but the mammoth defender has flashed of late, and those flashes are worth developing.

5. Trade for a pass rusher next to David Bailey

Even in a solid rookie season, Bailey will get shut out of games due to youthful inexperience. Kingsley Enagbare is solid, but he can't be the team's second-best pass rusher. Will McDonald IV being as poor as he has been this year, in tandem with Joseph Ossai's injury, is a nasty 1-2 punch.

The Jets may need to replicate what the Chicago Bears did with Montez Sweat years ago, trading for and extending an upcoming free agent to avoid a frenzy on the open market. Without that move, teams will focus almost entirely on trying to slow down Bailey.

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