Jets head coach Aaron Glenn took a lot of heat for his clock management after the team’s 20-17 overtime loss to the Packers last Sunday, but it wasn’t the only coaching decision to come under scrutiny.
There was also a decision to call a running play out of the shotgun on 4th-and-1 at midfield with the score tied late in the fourth quarter. Running back Braelon Allen got stuffed for no gain and the Jets didn’t get the ball back before the end of regulation.
On Thursday, offensive coordinator Frank Reich said that five years of data shows that running out of the gun is “percentage-wise” more successful than running out of non-shotgun formations because of the added threat of a pass. The percentages for running the ball in those situations are also better than passing it, but Reich said that doesn’t mean they won’t throw it if he thinks that’s the best call at the moment.
“The bottom line is I’m always going to call what I think is the best play in that moment,” Reich said, via Dennis Waszak of the Associated Press. “And that’s what I did in the game. When it doesn’t work out, it’s, sure, you’re upset about it. You think, ‘Ah, maybe I should have called something else.’ Because it didn’t work. But you’ve got to live with the results. I’m comfortable and confident in the calls that we called.”
Reich called it a “fair question” to ask about using tight end Kenyon Sadiq on a tush push-type play, but pointed out that the first-round pick missed most of the summer after having hernia surgery. That may be something in play for the future, but it wasn’t in the cards in a Week 2 that ended badly for the Jets.