‘Their Front Office Doesn’t Really Know Football’ – Ex-Jets DB Takes Dig at Franchise Before Aaron Glenn’s First Game

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When a former player sounds the alarm, it’s usually worth listening. Former New York Jets defensive back Robert Nelson Jr. didn’t hold back when discussing the franchise’s direction, offering a blunt assessment of a front office he believes is fundamentally flawed.

The criticism sets the stage for what could be a pivotal moment: the arrival of a new head coach tasked with fixing a culture from the inside out.

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Why Is Hiring Aaron Glenn a Turning Point for the Jets?

“Yeah, I played with the Jets too, and I’m not trying to bash anyone, but honestly, their front office doesn’t really know football,” Nelson said in an interview with RG. “They’ve got people in place, but most of them haven’t played the game, and that matters when it comes to building a winning culture.”

Nelson credits Glenn with shaping his own career and emphasized the value of having a leader who has lived the game. “AG taught me everything I knew when I was in Cleveland,” Nelson explained.

“He played 14 years in the league and also played for the Jets, so he knows the organization from the inside.”

Nelson noted that Glenn’s journey wasn’t gilded; it was grounded in relentless hard work. “He spent two, three years as an intern behind someone who didn’t even understand the cornerback position like he did. He gave away all his knowledge and got no credit for it. But he kept going.”

That hard work eventually paid off. Nelson pointed to Glenn’s track record of elevating defensive back rooms in Cleveland and with the Saints, where he coached players like Marshon Lattimore and Bradley Roby. Later, as the defensive coordinator in Detroit, he was instrumental in redefining the team’s identity after years of insignificance.

“Now that he’s the Jets’ head coach, I think that’s huge,” Nelson stressed. “Having a guy who actually played the game and understands what it takes, that’s going to be big for someone like Justin Fields. AG is going to hold him accountable. If he doesn’t perform, AG won’t hesitate to find someone else. It’s a business.”

Meanwhile, Glenn himself echoed this sense of purpose, making it clear that this job is personal.

“I was here my first couple of years when things weren’t going well at all. Then Bill Parcells came in, and we ran the town of New York. So I know exactly what it’s like to be a Jet and to run this city. I want the fans to get that feeling back. I want the media to get that feeling back,” Glenn told Judy Battista of NFL.com.

“And I want the players who haven’t experienced it, especially here in New York City, playing for the Jets, to feel exactly what I had the chance to feel,” he continued. “There’s no better feeling in the world, especially here, when you’re winning and the organization is kicking on all cylinders.”

Glenn added, “This is personal for me. This is the team that drafted me, the team that gave me my opportunity, and the team that brought me back as a coach. This is where I want to be as a head coach. You’re absolutely right, it’s personal. And I don’t take that lightly. I want to deliver that feeling again for the fans, for these players, and for this organization.”

Why Is Earning Respect the Biggest Challenge for Justin Fields?

Nelson also commented on the unique challenge awaiting quarterback Justin Fields, who enters a veteran Jets locker room that recently belonged to Aaron Rodgers.

“Earning respect, man, that’s the toughest part,” Nelson explained. “Even if you were a first-round draft pick, if you didn’t have the career you hoped for in Chicago, then went to Pittsburgh and split time with another veteran, you still have to prove yourself. And now, coming into a new organization like the Jets, you have to prove yourself all over again…”

The pressure, Nelson states, comes from the built-in expectations of being a franchise quarterback.

“People start asking questions. ‘Is it you?’ … There’s a different level of expectation. Teams are basically saying, ‘Hey, we just spent all this money on you, we expect you to be the captain.’ That kind of leadership has to be earned, not given.”

MORE: ‘Need Something Better Than Justin Fields’ – Ex-Jets LB Condemns Aaron Glenn’s Team Decision To Pass on Shedeur Sanders

However, Nelson believes Fields is already putting in the necessary work to win over his new teammates. “It’s about getting guys to believe in you, to buy into who you are and what you stand for. And that only happens through action. You’ve got to show it every day. Like with Justin Fields. Every time I’m at the facility, he’s there. That matters.”

“When your teammates start noticing that work ethic, they begin to believe in you, they’ll want to play for you, fight for you, and win with you.”

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