EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If the Jets were going to turn around their season, a Week 7 contest against a winless Dolphins roster seemed to be the perfect time to do so.

Instead, the organization watched for 60 minutes as the Jets were humiliated in front of the MetLife Stadium crowd in a 28-25 loss to a Dolphins team that—until that point—had not even held a lead for a second going into the contest in 2026.

After the game, a quiet Jets locker room and staff tried to summarize how the team could lose a game like that. Here are some of the most important quotes that matter from that time, as well as what they say about Sunday's loss.

To take the timeout, or not

The situation: Miami had the ball and a 14-7 lead deep in Jets territory at the two-minute warning. New York had all three timeouts late in the first half. Instead of taking any of the team's timeouts to preserve some time for the offense, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn opted to hold them and watched as the Dolphins completed their over 8-minute drive with a score.

New York was left with six seconds on the clock and went into the half down 14.

Glenn's reasoning afterwards? He believed they would get a stop.

Maybe we should have called our timeouts to
get it back, but at that point, we just felt like we were going to stop them and be able to get the ball back. That's something that we should have done is use our timeouts.

Aaron Glenn, Jets HC

To summarize, Glenn believed his defense would get a stop, and that's why he didn't use any timeouts. Even if the Dolphins were stuffed three times on run plays, the team still would not have had a chance to possess the ball based on their coach's decision.

On Monday morning, Glenn even defended the decision:

"They have time to get more first downs to negate the timeouts that we have, so we call timeout then we’re using those,” Glenn said. “They get another first down, then they can run the clock out.”

Does any of that make sense? Do the Jets have a coaching problem? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

The Garrett Wilson conundrum

When teams play the Seahawks, everyone knows they need to find a way to stop Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Seattle still finds a way to get him the ball.

When organizations battle the Steelers, teams know DK Metcalf is the player to stop. Pittsburgh still finds a way to get its top receiver the ball.

When teams play the Jets, everyone knows Garrett Wilson is the lifeblood of their passing game. Somehow, the Jets have been powerless to give their star receiver the ball.

Wilson saw just three targets on Sunday after finishing with just six the prior week. New York's inability to scheme their star receiver open and deliver accurate passes to him remains a conundrum for the organization.

One Glenn takes responsibility for.

" I’m going to put that on myself, of him not getting the targets that he needs," Glenn said. "Because trust me, that’s in the game plan, to make sure that he gets the ball. So, we have to do everything we can to make sure we do that."

But game planning is only half the problem. Wilson was open throughout Sunday's contest, but Geno Smith simply didn't throw him the football. After the game, the quarterback explained why.

"I think we all can do a better job of finding ways to get him more targets and more
touches," Smith said. "But again, the ball has to go where it goes based on the coverage, and hats off to them for the game plan they had."

A quiet and frustrated Wilson tried to rationalize the issues afterward:

I probably won’t even look. It’s alright. Just disappointed in the result of the game. It happens.

Garrett Wilson, Jets WR

During the game, CBS picked up a clip of Wilson seemingly yelling at Smith at one point in the game. Wilson said the two were just "collaborating" along the sideline. On second viewing, it seemed Wilson was yelling more towards passing game coordinator Seth Ryan than Smith.

Still, it's something the team will have to monitor as they consistently struggle to get their star the ball.

Team rallys behind Aaron Glenn

The big question Sunday was whether the Jets believed that Glenn was the right man for the job. After a 5-19 stretch and a 0-8 mark in AFC East play, it's a fair question to ask.

That said, the players were steadfast in their belief in their coach.

"Because he's a great leader, former Jet," Joe Tippmann said. "He's somebody who wants to win and we want to win. We follow AG."

In Smith's eyes, the team is on track, even with the results not toally where the team wants to be.

We’ve been in every game that we’ve played in. That’s the NFL. Most of these games come down to one score. And for us as a team, like I said, we’re learning. These are all lessons. So, we’ve got to take it all in stride.

Geno Smith, Jets QB

Why should Jets fans keep buying in?

That's the question on the minds of many fans waking up on Monday morning. Why should fans stay bought into a team that is about to see its playoff drought hit 16 seasons and 11 years of their team finishing below .500?

In the eyes of Glenn, it's all about improvement.

"I know what the bottom line of this game is, and it’s all about winning. But I do know this, that this program, when we first started, we knew the things that we wanted to see improve," Glenn said. " I do see the improvement in what we’re doing. I understand the fans’ frustration. I really do. I promise you I do. But the thing is, I do feel like this program is going in the right direction."

To their stars, though, the Jets understand talk is cheap. There needs to be results.

"I like to think we’re heading in the right direction. 2-5 is not a good spot, though," Wilson said. "We’re the only ones that can get ourselves out of it. Got to keep chopping and hope that it all comes together here soon."