Jets' Aaron Glenn Cryptically Addresses Rookie's Healthy Scratch

The New York Jets took the field on Sunday without rookie wide receiver Arian Smith for the first time this season.

The decision came somewhat as a surprise. Smith wasn't on the Injury Report throughout the week but was one of the team's seven inactive players on Sunday for the Atlanta Falcons game. On Monday, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn addressed Smith's absence, but wouldn't go into details, as shared by ESPN's Rich Cimini.

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The Jets rookie missed the Falcons game

New York Jets wide receiver Arian Smith (82) warms up before an NFL Week 10 game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Sounds like Arian Smith being a healthy scratch yesterday may have been due to a disciplinary reason," Cimini wrote on X.

"That's something that me and him will keep between us, just like I always do when things like that happen," Glenn said as transcribed by Cimini.

Sounds like Arian Smith being a healthy scratch yesterday may have been due to a disciplinary reason. Aaron Glenn (on a zoom this morning): "That's something that me and him will keep between us, just like I always do when things like that happen." #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) December 1, 2025

Smith was selected with the No. 110 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 National Football League Draft. He appeared in the first 11 games of the season for the Jets, including five starts. He hasn't had a massive impact in the passing game yet, though. In 11 games, he has six receptions on just 10 targets for 47 yards.

Throughout the summer, Smith looked like he had a shot at being a key piece for New York's offense. He has game-changing defense and can stretch a defense, but the production just hasn't been there yet. Adonai Mitchell is another guy who can get over the top of a defense, and he showed that with a breakout game on Sunday. Mitchell hauled in eight passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. The best play of the day was a massive 52-yard touchdown to Mitchell.

Smith is another guy who could make those types of long plays, but it hasn't resulted in on-field production this season and now he was a healthy scratch for an undisclosed reason. Certainly not the greatest look for the rookie playmaker, but he's just 24 years old and there's plenty of time left this season for him to turn things around.

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