The Jets started the 2025 season 1-7 and decided to become the NFL trade deadline’s biggest sellers, trading All-Pro defenders Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams on Tuesday. It was a shocking turn of events. Even in the very likely scenario New York fails to win many games by the end of the season those two were thought to be cornerstones of the roster who would make up the foundation of rookie coach Aaron Glenn’s future plans.
Obviously that is no longer the case. Glenn, who just earned his first win in Week 8, will go to work for the rest of the year with a roster drained of its top talent by the deadline. He addressed the media on Wednesday and described what it was like to wave goodbye to his two stars. Then, when asked what he would say to Jets fans who just watched their favorite team offload what little talent the roster boasted, Glenn offered something of a brutal line about how he still wants fans to be proud of his team—but he never promised that that would happen right away.
“I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of,” Glenn said. “But again, I've never said that we're going to be proud of them right now. At some point, I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. I still stick with that. I will still say that. This is a team that the fans will be proud of.
“I'm not going to get into the patience and all that type of crap that you always hear, but I would tell you this—our guys are working. We're going to continue to work, and I'm going to stand by that statement. I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. Don't let go of the rope.”
Aaron Glenn's message to Jets fans following the trade deadline:
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 5, 2025
"I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. But again, I've never said that we're going to be proud of them right now. At some point, I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. I still stick… pic.twitter.com/JoCqOvtKam
Before the season, Glenn said he would be happy if he could develop a team fans could be proud of. He didn’t hedge with when, exactly, it might happen, like he did in the above quote.
It’s not really what Jets fans want to hear. Glenn’s quote in totality isn’t all that bad; asking for patience is a frustrating trope for the fanbase and he promises to continue to work. But having to acknowledge there was a caveat with a simple goal of playing hard enough for fans to feel some pride is a tough place to be 10 weeks into the season. The message that they’ll be proud of the team eventually is not going to land with a long-suffering fanbase that has watched as the franchise flounders nearly every season in mediocrity and ineptitude.
Glenn has a long and arduous road ahead of him to bring the Jets to respectability. It got a lot harder with the Gardner and Williams trades.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Aaron Glenn Had a Brutal Line About Jets Fans Being Proud of the Team.
