Rex Ryan’s irate Jets take paints Aaron Glenn and his team in a terrible light

Any New York Jets fans who woke up Monday taking a glass-half-full approach regarding Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Chicago Bears are faring better than Rex Ryan.

Ryan calmly ripped the Jets during an appearance on ESPN Radio’s DiPietro & Rothenburg, arguing the team “reverted” to their 2025 form. Chicago outgained Aaron Glenn’s club 492-157 and ran 89 plays to the Jets’ 32.

“This was the first game where there’s not a positive thing about it,” Ryan said. “I thought this team was growing. I really did. And it took a major step back, like a huge step back.”

The Jets committed 12 penalties for 76 yards on Sunday afternoon and had three interceptions negated in the 23-12 loss. Isaiah Williams’ 58-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter was one of only four plays that went for at least 10 yards.

“I thought this team was past that,” he acknowledged. “And obviously there’s a ways to go, but you can’t let one game define your damn season. … Now it’s nobody believes in you. Well, you gotta go out and believe in yourself and in the people in that room, and we’re gonna find out exactly how this team feels about themselves [and] how hard they compete.”

Rex Ryan’s New York Jets analysis is bad news for embattled coach Aaron Glenn

Arguably the most important thing that Ryan said, and we’ll see whether Woody Johnson feels the same way, is his belief that the Jets “reverted” and seemingly erased all of the progress they’d made — or said they’d made — leading up to Glenn’s second season. 

As we argued on Sunday night, the Jets’ 12 penalties reflect horribly on Glenn and his staff. An offensive lineman getting called for holding is one thing, but hands to the face or illegal touching? And while we know penalties were a problem in numerous Week 4 games, that didn’t stop the Jacksonville Jaguars (13 penalties for 125 yards) from taking down the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The easy counter is that the Jaguars are a better team than the Jets. But winning organizations find ways to pull off the victory even when the officiating is working against them. 

So much of what we heard was that this year’s Jets were different, and Geno Smith deserves praise for providing mostly competent play at quarterback. We can’t blame Glenn for the rash of injuries that decimated the receiver corps and kept Breece Hall out on Sunday. 

That said, the New York Giants were home underdogs on Sunday and defeated the Arizona Cardinals without Jaxson Dart or Brian Burns. The Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders, of all teams, are 3-1 amid their latest rebuilds. So what's the Jets' excuse?

Ryan believes next Sunday’s clash with the Browns is an excellent opportunity to learn exactly who the 2026 Jets really are. Be careful what you wish for, Rex. 

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