Exclusive | Drew Brees raves about Aaron Glenn as new Jets coach: ‘Leader of men’

Before Drew Brees knew Aaron Glenn as a teammate and a coach, one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks had a rule that he applied to facing Glenn as a cornerback.

“I played against very few guys in my career where there was truly a no-throw zone,” Brees told The Post. “There was a no-throw zone against Aaron Glenn. You were never going to throw an in-cut inside of 5 to 12 yards. He would jump it and pick it off every single time. Forget about it. You had to be so careful because he had so much awareness and so much skill.” 

One day after Glenn was hired as Jets head coach, Brees spoke Thursday on behalf of Bounty’s “Everybody’s Wingman” Super Bowl campaign promoting the need for paper towels with wings.

Super Bowl LIX will be played Feb. 9 in New Orleans, where Brees is a legend. 

“What I always knew about A.G. was there was an intensity and competitiveness,” Brees said. “But he was a leader of men who garnered so much respect from his teammates for the way he prepared and the way he played. You felt like, ‘If this guy gets into coaching, he’s on the fast track.’ ” 

Brees and head coach Sean Payton were pillars of shifting the Saints’ identity from lovable losers into one of the NFL’s winningest franchises of the 21st century.

Glenn was exposed to their culture as a player in 2008 and defensive backs coach from 2016-2020, and then he helped rewrite the Lions’ tortured history as defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell for the last four seasons. 

Sounds like the cure for getting rid of the “Same Old Jets” mantra. 

“He knows what it’s like to create that type of environment,” Brees said. “You come in with a very defined plan, standards and a chain of accountability. When you establish that right away and create an open-door policy that’s around teaching and extracting the best out of those around you, those are the guys I want to be around. 

“You’re telling me you’re going to be honest with me, you’re going to push me, you’re going to get the best out of me and we’re going to accomplish great things together? Sign me up for that. That’s what A.G. represents. The guys he’s had a chance to be around, that was their M.O. as well. He will do that in his own way.” 

One of Glenn’s first direction-defining decisions will be whether to move forward with 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers … if Rodgers is even interested in returning instead of retiring. 

“He’s kind of the last of that generation,” Brees said, referring to himself and contemporaries Peyton and Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady. “But there’s a ton of great QB play right now — look at all the quarterbacks who came out [in the draft] last year.” 

Brees retired after his age-41 season, when he went 9-3 before and after a shoulder injury.

But he had the luxury of playing in the same offense under Payton and right-hand man Pete Carmichael Jr. from 2006-20. 

So, what kind of adjustments does Rodgers need to make to keep going? Brees sidestepped an individual assessment of Rodgers’ play and future. 

“For any athlete, Father Time always wins, so physical skills begin to diminish, it becomes harder to stay healthy,” Brees said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t still do certain things at a high level. You try to put yourself in situations where you can exercise the skill set you still have and are very good at and you try to stay away from the weaknesses. Toward the end of my career, I couldn’t push the ball past 50 yards but I’m going to complete 75 percent of passes inside of 30 yards and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. There’s a way to win every game.” 

Whether there’s one Aaron or two trying to lead the Jets to wins remains to be seen.