Game one of the 2025-26 season is in the books for the New York Jets. Although head coach Aaron Glenn’s crew managed to put up 32 points, it wasn’t quite enough in the end.
Former Jets starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his Pittsburgh Steelers wound up getting the last laugh in a 34-point outburst. Despite that, Glenn is proud of how his team performed in multiple areas.
One of them is the run game. Halfback Breece Hall, specifically, was a star of the show on Sunday afternoon.
RB Breece Hall Returned to Form to Start Jets’ Season
Speaking to the media on Monday morning, Glenn tipped his cap to Hall for a tremendous effort.
“Listen, I think what Breece did really speaks for himself,” Glenn said. “[It’s] something that we’ve talked about all through training camp on how I felt like he was going to have — and he is going to have — a good season for us. He’s a tough runner, he has really good speed. You saw a couple of those runs he made, man, [where] he should’ve been stopped for negative yards but he made some things happen on his own and ended up getting a tough 3-4 yards on that. I think the way that he played really speaks for itself.”
Of course, Hall factored into the receiving game. His 2 catches for 38 yards — including a 33-yard grab — helped New York’s output. With that said, it was his performance on the ground that set and maintained the tone. On 19 carries, Hall exploded for 107 yards (a 5.6-yard average).
It was how Hall earned those yards that likely left an impression on Glenn. As Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic pointed out, Hall averaged 4.74 yards after contact per rush. He did so in spite of heavy boxes selling out for the run. This is the best Hall has looked in quite some time, which is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Around the time the preseason started, Glenn gushed about New York’s plans for Hall. If the fourth-year man is to receive a hefty contract extension, he’ll need more games like this one.
Glenn Pleased With Performance of New York’s Offensive Line in Week 1
Fortunately, it seems that the Jets‘ offensive line might be better than originally thought. That was the case against the Steelers, even with star guard Alijah Vera-Tucker‘s season being cut short before it even began.
The front five opened rushing lanes for Hall, also keeping quarterback Justin Fields clean. That allowed him ample time to complete passes and/or extend plays, which came in handy en route to a solid Jets debut. Glenn believes that group’s ability to respond to adversity was telling.
“I think it’s the same thing with the O-line,” Glenn said. “This is an O-line that really wants to show their physicality [and] understand exactly who they are. You’ve got to give Moug [Darren Mougey] and our scouting staff a lot of credit because, listen, AVT [Vera-Tucker] goes down, we put Josh Myers in, [Joe] Tippmann goes over to right guard, and here we go. Those guys didn’t blink, not one bit. That shows a lot from what we’ve been trying to create all through training camp of, ‘Listen, one guy going down is not going to stop this train of what we’re trying to do.'”
Thirty-two points, more often than not, will be enough to get the job done. That’s especially likely if Hall is running like he did in Week 1 and the offensive line continues playing at a high level.
Jets Star RB Breece Hall Applauded for Week 1 Performance