Brady Cook's disastrous Week 16 proves Jets are committed to the tank

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn can say that his team is trying their hardest to win each game every week. His actions continue to speak louder than his press conference words, however.

Glenn announced on Wednesday that undrafted rookie Brady Cook would once again receive the start at quarterback in Week 16, despite the fact that veteran Tyrod Taylor would be able to return from injury.

Glenn’s reasoning differed slightly from his explanations for previous quarterback decisions. Instead of insisting that Cook gave the team the best chance to win, the first-year head coach said Cook earned the start because the Jets wanted to “continue to evaluate him.”

On Sunday, the Jets got that opportunity, and it went about as poorly as anyone could have imagined. Cook finished 22-of-35 for 188 yards and an interception, but his performance was far worse than the box score numbers would suggest.

Jets' Brady Cook decision proves the team isn't trying to win every game

Cook was sacked a whopping eight times in Sunday’s 29–6 loss to the New Orleans Saints, as the Jets officially reached Justin Fields–level offensive line sack inflation. Many of those sacks were the result of Cook’s poor pocket awareness.

It was arguably as bad a quarterback performance as the Jets have seen this season, and that's saying a lot given the numerous Fields stinkers we saw earlier in the year. Cook completed just one pass longer than nine air yards. You can't function as an offense with quarterback play like that.

The Jets' decision Cook over Taylor is further proof that the team's No. 1 goal right now is not winning football games. If that were the case, Taylor would be the QB, and Garrett Wilson would have already been activated off IR.

Of course, the Jets aren't necessarily trying to lose games. Their goal right now is roster evaluation, and if that comes with the added benefit of improved draft position, they're not going to complain.

It will be interesting to see whether Glenn and the Jets stick with Cook for the final two games of the season after his egregiously poor performance on Sunday. At a certain point, quarterback play like that limits the team’s ability to properly evaluate its skill-position players.

But for now, one thing is clear. The Jets may not be trying their hardest to lose games, but they're certainly not trying to win them either.