Before Drew Brees knew Aaron Glenn as a teammate and coach, one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks had a rule he used when facing Glenn as a cornerback.
“I’ve played against very few guys in my career where there was truly a no-throw zone,” Brees told the Post. “There was a no-throw zone against Aaron Glenn. You’re never going to throw an inside cut closer than 5 to 12 yards. He jumped on it and took it off every time. Forget it. You had to be very careful because he had so much awareness and so much skill.
A day after Glenn was hired as the Jets’ head coach, Brees spoke Thursday on behalf of Bounty’s “Everybody’s Wingman” Super Bowl campaign promoting the need for paper napkins with wings.
Super Bowl LIX will be played on February 9 in New Orleans, where Brees is a legend.
“What I always knew about AG was that there was an intensity and a competitiveness,” Brees said. “But he was a leader of men who commanded so much respect from his teammates for the way he prepared and the way he played. You were like, “If this guy becomes a coach, he’s on the fast track. » »
Brees and head coach Sean Payton were the pillars of the Saints’ identity shift from lovable losers to one of the NFL’s winningest franchises of the 21st century.
Glenn was exposed to their culture as a player in 2008 and defensive backs coach from 2016-2020, then helped rewrite the Lions’ tortured history as defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell the past four seasons.
This looks like the cure to getting rid of the “Same Old Jets” mantra.
“He knows what it means to create that type of environment,” Brees said. “You come in with a very defined plan, standards and chain of custody. When you establish that right away and create an open door policy that focuses on teaching and extracting the best from those around you, those are the guys I want to be around.
“Are you telling me that you’re going to be honest with me, that you’re going to push me, that you’re going to get the best out of me and that we’re going to accomplish great things together? Sign me up for this. This is what AG represents. The guys he had the chance to work with, it was also their MO. He will do it his way.
One of Glenn’s first defining decisions will be whether to move forward with 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers…if Rodgers is even interested in coming back instead of retiring.
“He’s kind of the last of this generation,” Brees said, referring to himself and his contemporaries Peyton and Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady. “But there are a ton of good QB plays right now — look at all the quarterbacks that went out (in the draft) last year.”
Brees retired after his age-41 season, when he was 9-3 before and after a shoulder injury.
But he had the luxury of playing in the same offense under Payton and right-hand man Pete Carmichael Jr. from 2006-2020.
So what kinds of adjustments does Rodgers need to make to continue? Brees avoided an individual assessment of Rodgers’ game and future.
“For any athlete, Father Time always wins, so physical skills start to decline, it becomes harder to stay healthy,” Brees said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t still do certain things at a high level. You try to put yourself in situations where you can practice the skills that you still have and are very good at and you try to stay away from weaknesses. Towards the end of my career I couldn’t push the ball past 50 yards, but I’ll complete 75 percent of passes under 30 yards and there’s nothing you can do about that. There is a way to win every game.
It remains to be seen if there will be one or two Aarons who will try to lead the Jets to victory.
