Al Iannazzone: Maybe the 'bored' and 'easiest' comments from Bears' Devin Bush can motivate the Jets
Austin McNamara of the New York Jets punts the ball during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on October 4, 2026. Credit: Getty Images/Michael Reaves
Bears linebacker Devin Bush fired a shot after Sunday’s win over the Jets that added further insult to a performance that already reflected poorly on Aaron Glenn, his coaches and every Jets player who stepped on the field.
Bush said it was “one of the easiest NFL games” he’s played in, that he’s not “sore” and that he “got bored” watching from the sideline. The Bears defense spent an absurd amount of time on the sideline in their 23-12 win over the Jets. They barely broke a sweat.
The Jets possessed the ball for just 17:15 of a 60-minute game and only 45 seconds in the fourth quarter. The offense couldn’t stay on the field. The defense couldn’t get off it.
The Bears ran 89 plays, the Jets 32.
The entire game was a bad lookfor the Jets. Bush’s words — albeit probably true — were the sound bite that served as an indictment of how ineffective and overmatched the Jets were. It’s something that the Jets should take note of and make sure nothing close to this happens again.
“When you play 32 plays, you don’t get a lot of run,” Glenn said Monday. “I guess that’s common sense. I don’t know how many times you’re going to come in a game where you have 32 plays. Listen, I’m not worried about that. Only thing I’m worried about is our team moving forward.”
Glenn tried his best to put a positive spin on what happened, citing areas of improvement and saying he hopes the fans can see them. They don’t. They wanted Glenn gone after going 3-14 last season. This game got frustrated fans’ blood boiling again, and Glenn’s comments won’t help that or how they feel about him as a coach.
He said the run game was better, the defense attacked the football and forced takeaways and made stops in the red zone, and special teams improved their coverage. No one wants to hear any of that after the Jets were outgained 492-157 or allowed more Chicago first downs (34) than plays run by the Jets.
Glenn is just pumping what he said after the game, that he doesn’t want the Jets’ history or any negative thought creeping into the locker room and impeding what he’s hoping to build.
“There are some positives that come out of this and sometimes everybody just focuses on the negative part of it,” Glenn said. “But our deal is we’re going to make sure we try to continue to improve on that. Hopefully, from the outside, our fans will see that.”
Everyone is looking for progress, a reason to have hope that the Jets will be worth watching when the weather gets colder. After a Week 1 victory and two narrow losses — one that should have been a win — there seemed to be hope. It’s fading, if not gone altogether. Only the Jets can change that.
Center Josh Myers said those three losses are “tough to stomach,” but added, “We’re going to win games. I have all the faith in the world in that.”
The Jets’ warts showed on Sunday. Geno Smith, who played good football the first three games, had a dud against Chicago. He completed eight passes — the same number as Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent in the first quarter.
No matter how much the defense is trying to take away Garrett Wilson, Smith has to find a way to deliver the ball to him. Three catches is not nearly enough for their top playmaker. This has happened too much to Wilson over the years. It’s a broken record at this point: the Jets have to get him the ball more.
Glenn’s defense is not absolved of blame even though the Jets finally ended their 20-game interception drought. It became a footnote because of the avalanche of bad or undisciplined play that led to this loss.
The defense had eight penalties — three of them negated interceptions — and allowed 10 plays of 16 yards or more. The Jets started the day ranked second in total defense and ended it No. 12.
One of the things Glenn said the Jets have to improve on is their four-man pass rush. They’ve gotten little from their defensive linemen. Glenn wouldn’t put it on rookie David Bailey, whose two sacks have come while chasing down a scrambling quarterback, or Will McDonald, who has no sacks since Week 1. “This is not one guy, this is not two guys,” Glenn said. “This is all four guys working together.”
The Jets need all 53 guys and the coaches working together to dig out of this. Glenn should make sure they all know what Bush said and use that to stir up some pride and fight. Bush’s words might end up being the only positive that came out of this game.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
