‘Higher stakes’ hit home for New York Jets $130million man with blunt statement on former coach

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The New York Jets star wide receiver is happy to turn the page.Garrett Wilson spoke to the media on Tuesday and talked about the culture of this year’s team and how new head coach Aaron Glenn has instilled a competitive fire in them.Glenn is in his first year as a head coach in the NFLGettyOne in which they prove it on the field, not just talk about it, a shot that may or may not have been toward the direction of his former coach, Robert Saleh, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.When asked what the difference is between Glenn’s approach and what he’s used to experiencing here before, Wilson didn’t hesitate.“The competitiveness,” he said. “It’s not just talking about being competitive, no no no, you’ve got to train that way.“It’s got to feel like that at practice, it’s got to feel like if you lose at practice, it sucks, it can’t just be, ‘Oh we’ll turn it on when the game comes.’“And I think that’s the main thing that I see that’s different, just the way we’re practicing, the intensity. The stakes. It feels like there’s stakes.“Depending on which period it is, the stakes feel higher. It feels like you won the drill when you won the drill, and it feels like you lost when you lost, and to me, that’s how I like it.“It’s an opportunity to practice winning and get that feeling & what it takes to just do it on a consistent basis, and I think it starts out here on the practice field.”The last two seasons the Jets have felt like they were all bark, no bite. Not this year. This feels different with them. More authentic, more real.Now, they are going to have to go out there in September, October, November, December and win football games, but it seems they are on the right path.Wilson is heading into his fourth season, coming off three consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons to begin his career. He has turned into a star in his short time in the Big Apple.Wilson had one of the best catches of the season last year against the Houston TexansGettyRodgers and Wilson seemed to get along decentlyGettyX/@NYJETSWilson didn’t mince his words when talking about the vibe around this year’s team[/caption]He has done everything but win. Wilson has played in 51 games, 17 each in his first three years.He’s won a grand total of 19. The Jets are 19-32 since the talent wideout arrived from Ohio State in the first round of the 2022 draft.Of course that doesn’t all fall on Wilson, if at all. An argument could be made that’s been New York‘s most reliable and consistent player during his time as a member of Gang Green.However, now it’s time to start winning, and Wilson believes they can do that with Glenn and quarterback Justin Fields.Glenn wants to set the tone from the get-go.“You try to create an identity of your team, and you start to figure out who’s going to be a part of that identity, and that’s what the evaluation process is,” Glenn said after practice on Monday. NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?“We’re evaluating in the meeting room, we’re evaluating on the field, and they all know that that’s a part of who we want to be. And the good thing is, man, they look forward to it.”It wasn’t just Wilson speaking to Glenn’s impact. Wide receiver and return specialist Xavier Gipson shared the same sentiment.“We’re fired up, especially when pads came on,” Gipson said. “We were fired up before pads came on. [Glenn] keeps preaching that [physicality] and just hearing the guys talking about it every day is giving you a great feeling for sure.”The Jets can get out of the gates fast with a win in Week 1, when they welcome none other than Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Rodgers will have vengeance on his mind, but so will the Jets. We’ll see if Glenn’s players have bought what he’s been selling them.It’s clear they didn’t invest in Saleh’s, or really even Rodgers’. All eyes will be on Glenn, and the spectacular Wilson. It’s time to start winning.