{"id":74942,"date":"2025-12-18T22:44:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/74942\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T22:44:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:44:21","slug":"why-chris-harris-has-mixed-feelings-over-jets-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/74942\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chris Harris has mixed feelings over Jets promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Harris is grateful for his promotion from defensive backs coach to interim defensive coordinator for the Jets for the final three games of the season, following the firing earlier this week<\/a> of veteran coach Steve Wilks.<\/p>\n

But Harris, who played for eight seasons as a safety with four NFL teams, isn\u2019t necessarily viewing the step up as a positive reflection of the coaching job he\u2019s done this season with the 30th-ranked scoring defense in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t ideal. Nobody wants to go through this during the season,\u201d Harris said before Thursday\u2019s practice in Florham Park. \u201cIt\u2019s something I definitely aspired to do, and I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity that [head coach Aaron Glenn has] given me. With Steve, I learned a lot from him\u2026and what happened is not an indictment on him. it\u2019s on the entire defensive staff, and we just have to do better.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, this is on all of us as a coaching staff. I want to thank AG for putting me in this position, but again, it\u2019s not about me. Our focus is getting ready to play the Saints and trying to put the best product on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisInterim Jets defensive coordinator Chris Harris Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n

The 56-year-old Wilks was axed on Monday, one day after the Jets \u2014 who traded former Pro Bowlers Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams in November \u2014 suffered a 48-20 trouncing by the Jaguars to fall to 3-11 entering this week\u2019s road game against the Saints.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve is a good friend of mine and I wish him well. He\u2019s a great person,\u201d the 43-year-old Harris said. \u201cSo it\u2019s just one of those things that happened, one of those things, unfortunately, in this business. Those things happen. But again, it\u2019s not an indictment on Steve. I have to get better, and our entire coaching staff, it\u2019s on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris, who picked off Colts quarterback Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLI in a losing effort for the Bears, also acknowledged that \u201cit\u2019s unusual\u201d that the Jets\u2019 defense has managed zero interceptions through 14 games \u2014 an NFL record to start a season \u2014 and just two takeaways on fumble recoveries.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Jets fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after a Week 15 blowout loss. Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n

The Jets have totaled three takeaways for the season overall, also including one on special teams. The fewest takeaways in history in a full season were seven by the 49ers in 2018. That San Francisco squad also holds the mark for fewest interceptions, with two that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time I\u2019ve been a part of that,\u201d Harris said. \u201cBut our guys are doing everything that they can, and we\u2019re doing everything that we can, out there. We\u2019re focusing every single day on catching the ball. Those opportunities have come and they\u2019re going to come. I\u2019m certain that they\u2019re going to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys are doing everything they can. We\u2019re harping on it. We\u2019re preaching it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacksonville\u2019s 48-point explosion featured quarterback Trevor Lawrence throwing for 330 yards with five touchdowns and running for another score. One week earlier, the Dolphins had pasted the Jets<\/a>, 34-10.<\/p>\n

Overall, the defense is allowing 28.4 points per game, putting the Jets on pace to give up the second-most points in franchise history. They also rank 20th in yards allowed and 29th in rushing defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like it was the best decision for the organization at this time,\u201d Glenn said earlier this week about the change. \u201cI\u2019ve said this all along. I\u2019m evaluating players. I\u2019m evaluating coaches. I\u2019m evaluating myself. I just felt like this was the best decision right now for the team and for this organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see consistent improvement. I want to see structure that\u2019s consistent. I want to see play that\u2019s consistent. I want to see the character, the culture of this football team come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glenn previously served as the Lions\u2019 defensive coordinator from 2021-24 and has said that he will assist Harris during the week with the game plan, but Harris will handle the defensive play-calling Sunday in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been great. We\u2019ve kind of been back and forth at night talking and showing me how he did things as a defensive coordinator. Getting prepared, game plan, things of that nature,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to make anything about me, but to bring to the defense, I\u2019m a former player, and I can talk to the guys. I understand how they think, so it\u2019s all about preparing, and we want to play with grit and toughness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Harris is grateful for his promotion from defensive backs coach to interim defensive coordinator for the Jets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12160,9,11,430,10,22,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-74942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-jets","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}