Jets left searching after Glenn era starts 0-5

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Jets have employed 19 full-time head coaches over six-plus decades. On Sunday, Aaron Glenn became the first to start his tenure with five straight losses.

Glenn's trademark bravado, which surfaced after previous losses, was gone after the latest defeat -- a 37-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. He was introspective, largely blaming himself for the 0-5 record -- the Jets' third such start in the last 30 years.

"When something bad happens, the response isn't where we need to be -- and I have to look at myself on that," said Glenn, repeating that sentiment several times in his post-game news conference. "I have to do something to fix that. We're all in this together, but I do know this: Man, it all starts with me. I do know that. So we have to fix it."

Glenn is a defensive-minded coach, and his defense is experiencing historic futility -- no takeaways in five games. The Jets became the first team in NFL history to take an oh-fer on takeaways in the first five games. That covers nearly one century, as turnovers became an official stat in 1933.

The defense, among the league's best in recent years, is yielding 31.7 points per game. The Jets are on pace to allow the most points in franchise history, and yet Glenn still is supporting defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Glenn said he has no plans to take over the play calling.

"I know that's going to be the thing that everyone says, but I always go back to my first year in Detroit when we struggled on defense and our head coach had a lot of confidence in me, making sure we get it right," said Glenn, alluding to 2021 under Dan Campbell. "I feel the exact same way. [I] have a lot of confidence in Wilks. He's done a lot of great things in this league as a defense coordinator and I'm going to allow him to do his job. I am."

The defense was so bad on Sunday that it allowed a 100-yard rusher (Javonte Williams) and a 100-yard receiver (Ryan Flournoy) in the first half alone. Flournoy is a former practice-squad player who had almost as many receiving yards on Sunday (114) as he did in the first 15 games of his career (137).

Facing an offensive line missing four starters, the Jets made only one sack (a give-up play by Dak Prescott). They missed 14 tackles for 182 yards, per Next Gen Stats.

At times, they looked disinterested, falling behind, 30-3. Glenn didn't question their effort. But the loss hit hard.

"It keeps me up at night, trying to process," cornerback Sauce Gardner said of the 0-5 start. "I try to think of the good that's going on because it's hard for me to sleep, trying to see why we're not winning."

Guard John Simpson, standing in front of his locker room, wiped tears from his eyes.

"Deep down, I get emotional about this s---," he said, "but I know we're going to turn this s--- around."

The Jets follow the same sad script every week. When they get some momentum, they commit a killer mistake. Six days after Braelon Allen's goal-line fumble in a Monday night loss to the Miami Dolphins, Breece Hall wiped out a promising drive by fumbling at the Dallas 13-yard line with 2:18 left in the second quarter.

The Jets were down, 10-3, but still in the game. By halftime, it was 23-3. Glenn and players admitted their spirit was fractured by the fumble.

"I think the only reason it was as deflating as it was is because the exact same thing happened last week," quarterback Justin Fields said. "It was like a 'damn' moment almost."

Hall, who rushed for 113 yards, took the blame.