Aaron Glenn Facing Backlash For Defending Controversial Jets DE

The New York Jets were outcoached and outclassed in Week 2, as the Buffalo Bills showed the levels of football in a one-sided beatdown.

But defensive end Micheal Clemons quickly came under the microscope after the game, as Clemons was nonexistent for the most part. But what makes it worse is the fact that the one time Clemons' name was called on the broadcast, it was because he had committed a horrible roughing the passer penalty to give the Bills a first down on third and long.

Shortly after the game, head coach Aaron Glenn came to the defense of his player.

"Listen, everybody has ups and downs when it comes to playing," Glenn said following Clemons' disastrous Week 2 performance. "And the things that we're asking Mike (Micheal Clemons) to do, he's doing a good job at that. You know, does he need to improve? Absolutely, like everybody else, right? But we know exactly what we're doing with Mike."

Shortly after Glenn's comments, Justin Fried of the Jet Press opted to bash Glenn for defending Clemons, calling Glenn's comments "embarrassing" and "incorrect."

Aaron Glenn under fire for Micheal Clemons comments

Sep 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn before the game against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

"Head coach Aaron Glenn somehow made the situation even worse on Wednesday, delivering an embarrassingly tone-deaf defense of the universally despised defender that will only fuel more fan frustration with both player and coach," Fried wrote. "Glenn came to the defense of his struggling defensive lineman, going as far as to insist that Clemons is doing everything the Jets are asking him to do. Yes, apparently Jets coaches have been pleased with his performance through two weeks.

"It's one thing to publicly defend a player — coaches are never going to throw players under the bus in public press conferences. But it's another thing to offer a blind defense that comes across as both tone-deaf and flat-out incorrect."

Defending a player is one thing, but it feels like a reach for Glenn to allude to the fact that Clemons is playing well right now.

The defensive lineman isn't generating pressure on the quarterback, and he's not helping much in the run game. When he did get to Josh Allen, he committed a penalty that gave the Bills a new set of downs.

It would have been a bad look if Glenn threw his player under the bus, but defending him to this degree seems like quite a reach.

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