New Jets CB drops telling quote about Aaron Glenn’s culture shift

There isn't always a reason for optimism in Florham Park. Well, at least within the confines of One Jets Drive. Nothing against the good people of Florham Park, NJ, as a whole, of course.

But this season, the New York Jets and their fans have reason for such optimism. The reason for this is the new culture that head coach Aaron Glenn has instilled throughout training camp. Offseason addition Brandon Stephens agrees.

"AG understands the standard and what it takes to win," Stephens told reporters on Wednesday.

Nothing Stephens said was new. This sentiment has been the consensus throughout Jets training camp. The squad is entirely behind their new coach. But as we approach the final preseason game, hearing it yet again from a crucial new piece is reaffirming.

Stephens has been elsewhere. And he hasn't been just anywhere — he spent time in the culture capital of the NFL, Baltimore. He's a veteran. He knows what the "standard" that he speaks of is, and he also knows that Glenn understands it, too.

Brandon Stephens is fully bought in to Aaron Glenn's Jets culture

It's easy to be repetitive about the culture, but when you take a step back and look at where the franchise was this time last season, the new vibes cannot be overstated. Indeed, the talent seemed immense in preseason last year, but the culture was far from where it is now. Things were... chaotic... to say the least.

Aaron Rodgers was returning, and everyone was excited about that, but stories of Rodgers' stranglehold on just about everything were leaking out of camp like a sieve (thank you, Dianna Russini and Mike Florio).

There were stars up and down the roster. But the Haason Reddick holdout made it clear that buy-in wasn't exactly universal amongst the players. And throughout all of it, I don't think anyone felt Robert Saleh truly had a grip on things. Whether accurate or inaccurate, it feels like Glenn does.

This quote from Stephens is Exhibit 300 of the new atmosphere Glenn has instilled. As I said, the fact that a player who spent several seasons with the Ravens thinks the Jets culture is in a great spot says something.

It almost feels like, dare I say, when Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard came over from Baltimore and vocally approved of "playing like a Jet." I'm getting way... WAY ahead of myself, I know, but you see where I'm going with this. It means something.

Everyone wants talent. That expectation is always baked in. But aside from that, all you can ask for at this early stage is alignment between players and coaches.

No one truly knows how the Jets' season will unfold, and no one knows if Aaron Glenn is truly the man for the job. But on August 22nd, with 17 days until the Week 1 opener, you cannot ask for things to be in a better spot.

Players are singing the coach's praises. The coach is singing the players' praises. Everything is copacetic.

Of course, it can take just the slightest bit of adversity to derail this kind of positive momentum. However, if the momentum is as strong as it seems today, the Aaron Glenn culture should be here to stay. Just please, no more Haason Reddicks. Thank you.

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