Aaron Glenn defends controversial Jets roster decision with puzzling explanation

The Aaron Glenn era has already felt like a breath of fresh air for New York Jets fans. The first-year head coach has come in and immediately instilled a sense of honesty, transparency, and accountability that was often missing under his predecessors.

But for all the good Glenn has done since taking over as head coach earlier this year, one of his recent decisions and subsequent explanations has left many fans scratching their heads.

The Jets made the controversial decision to name the incumbent Xavier Gipson as their starting punt returner entering the 2025 season, waiving undrafted rookie Jamaal Pritchett in a corresponding move last week.

By all accounts, Pritchett outperformed Gipson as both a receiver and return man in training camp and the preseason, but it wasn't enough to earn him a roster spot. Glenn was asked about the puzzling move earlier in the week and offered a similarly puzzling response.

"There’s more than just preseason games that everyone sees. There’s a ton of practice time where [Xavier] Gipson did a good job."

Aaron Glenn

Aaron Glenn's explanation for the Jets' Xavier Gipson decision makes no sense

Glenn spoke highly of Gipson, insisting that the former undrafted free agent excelled in practice. The ex-Pro Bowl cornerback remarked that Gipson apparently fielded 145 consecutive punts this summer without a muff.

While it's fair to say that the preseason is only a snippet of the source material the Jets coaches used for their roster decisions, it's also fair to suggest that regular-season tape should matter too.

Gipson has been one of the NFL's worst punt returners over the last two seasons. The 24-year-old led the NFL in both fumbles (four) and muffs (three) on punt returners in 2024, showing that his recent streak of surehandedness isn't exactly supported by his actual game film.

Gipson doesn’t even pair that inconsistency with explosiveness. He’s managed just five total returns of 20+ yards over the last two seasons while coughing up a whopping nine fumbles. For a player whose job is supposed to provide his team with safe, steady field position, that’s simply not good enough.

He’s a high-risk, low-upside punt returner — the worst possible combination. Pritchett may have muffed a few punts this summer, but reports out of camp indicated it wasn’t significantly worse than Gipson. At least the South Alabama rookie offers a degree of upside that Gipson simply does not.

Glenn is basing his — and likely special teams coordinator Chris Banjo's — decision on their performances this summer, but Gipson has two full years of tape suggesting he's not an NFL-caliber punt returner.

The Jets are gambling on practice-field steadiness over proven game-day results, and history suggests that’s a losing bet. If Gipson struggles again, the calls for Pritchett — who remains on the team's practice squad — will only get louder.

For now, this stands as one of the first instances where Glenn’s message of accountability feels hollow.

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