New York Jets Steve Serby Jets don’t have the Giants’ star power — and that’s a good thing By Steve Serby Published Aug. 23, 2026, 7:17 p.m. ET New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn is seen following the Pittsburgh Steelers' 17-0 pre-season loss to the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, in Pittsburgh. Archie Carpenter/UPI/Shutterstock When the Jets and Giants tangle in the preseason finale Friday night at MetLife Stadium, it will be impossible not to notice a marked difference in star power.
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Rex Ryan barged and blustered his way onto the tabloid back pages and internet for a while, and you had to pay attention to the Jets around here when they reached back-to-back AFC Championship games sandwiched between the two Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning Giants Super Bowl championships.
Then the losing began in earnest, and Woody Johnson made the move for Aaron Rodgers, and here came the spotlight, here came the Hard Knocks summer, Rodgers fanboying over Liev Schreiber, teammates and club officials fanboying over Rodgers, here came primetime games, and here came Joe Namath offering to have his No. 12 unretired so Rodgers could wear the number he will take into Canton as a Packer.
You couldn’t blame the owner, not after Mark Sanchez fizzled and the young Geno Smith had his jaw broken in the locker room and Sam Darnold didn’t have enough time to develop into a Super Bowl MVP and Zach Wilson had been a colossal bust at a position that had long been the franchise Achilles’ heel.
