Brady Cook getting third straight start for Jets against Patriots in home finale

Brady Cook is getting at least one more start for the New York Jets.

Coach Aaron Glenn announced Monday that the undrafted rookie quarterback will be under center Sunday in the team's home finale against the AFC East-leading New England Patriots.

It'll be the third consecutive start for Cook, who spent most of the season on the practice squad before getting an opportunity to play because of injuries to Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields.

"I think he’s highly competitive, I think he's composed, I think he understands our offense,” Glenn said Monday. "Obviously, there’s some things that we have to do better to help him. There’s some things that he has to do better to help himself also.

“But, yeah, I think all those traits that we talked about before are still things that I look forward to seeing with him continue to improve as he continues to get these starts.”

With the Jets 3-12 and playing out the stretch of a lost season, Glenn and his staff want to get an extended look at Cook as they head into the offseason. The team's biggest question mark is who their quarterback will be moving forward, and Glenn wouldn't say Cook could potentially be in the mix to be New York's starter beyond this season.

“Well, I really want to focus on what we’re doing now,” Glenn said. “And I want to focus on New England.”

That means Cook has at least one more start, and probably two, to help solidify a spot as a player to move forward with — at least as a suddenly experienced backup.

In a 29-6 loss to the Saints, Cook went 22 of 35 for 188 yards with no touchdowns and one interception — and was sacked eight times.

“All of our hands are involved with some of the mistakes that happened in that game,” Glenn said. “But I thought that he did a really good job at the beginning of the game, managing the game the right way.”

In three games, including the past two starts, Cook has completed 59.8% of his passes (58 of 98) for 527 yards and one touchdown and six interceptions. He has also been sacked a whopping 17 times, a clear indication of how quickly the game is moving for the rookie.

But Cook is making a strong impression on his teammates, on and off the field.

“I feel like everybody in the huddle believes in him,” wide receiver Isaiah Williams said. "And he demands that. I feel like his preparation — every Monday, every Tuesday, he'll hit up the guys, like, ‘Let’s watch some film together, make sure we're on the same page.'

“So the biggest thing that stands out when I think of Brady Cook is his leadership and his confidence. And those are two things people can buy into.”

Special teams. The unit has been a bright spot all season. Nick Folk, the 41-year-old kicker, is 27 of 28 on field goals and 21 of 21 on extra points. Austin McNamara has been a field-flipping punter in his first full NFL season. Williams and Kene Nwangwu have combined for three return TDs this season and are always a threat to score when teams actually kick to them.

Third-down offense. The Jets went 2 for 15 on third down against the Saints, a dismal showing that largely contributed to New York getting only 195 total yards of offense. For the season, the Jets are 27th in the NFL in third-down conversion percentage at 35%.

LB Jamien Sherwood. The Jets signed Sherwood to a three-year, $45 million contract extension in the offseason and he was voted a team captain. But he has not had as productive a season as expected in a new defensive scheme. Sherwood had his best game of the season Sunday under interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris, who took over last week for the fired Steve Wilks. Sherwood tied Quincy Williams for the team lead with 11 tackles and added a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback pressure.

LG John Simpson. The veteran offensive lineman had two penalties against the Saints, including a chop block late in the first quarter that wiped out a 4-yard scramble by Cook for a first down on third-and-1. Simpson, scheduled to be a free agent, has 11 accepted penalties this season, tied for second most in the NFL behind Chicago offensive tackle Darnell Wright's 12.

DT Jay Tufele was carted from the sideline with a foot injury and he'll be evaluated throughout the week. ... TE Mason Taylor (neck), LB Kiko Mauigoa (neck) and DL Eric Watts (concussion) sat out Sunday.

15 — The Jets have gone 15 games without an interception, the longest such drought in NFL history. By not getting one at New Orleans, New York broke a tie with San Francisco, which ended their 14-game drought earlier this season.

The Jets finish their home schedule against the playoff-bound Patriots, who after going 4-13 last year serve as an example how things can flip for a franchise from one season to the next.

“For the fans, listen, it’s going to be a tough road,” Glenn said. “We knew that, but, man, the thing is, we know exactly what we’re doing and we do have a plan. Just don’t let go of the rope, I would say that.”

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New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn reacts while talking with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall)

New York Jets guard Joe Tippmann (66) celebrates after a field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall)

New York Jets quarterback Brady Cook (4) scrambles as New Orleans Saints defensive end Carl Granderson (96) defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New York Jets quarterback Brady Cook throws during the second half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall)

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia General Assembly ended its annual session early Friday without a plan for new equipment to overhaul the state's voting system by a July deadline, plunging into doubt the future of elections in the political battleground.

The lawmakers' failure to offer a solution after months of debate raises uncertainty about how Georgians will vote in November and leaves confusion that could end in the courts or a special legislative session.

“They’ve abdicated their responsibility,” Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper said of inaction by Republicans who control the legislature.

Currently, voters make their choices on Dominion Voting machines, which then print ballots with a QR code that scanners read to tally votes. Those machines have been repeatedly targeted by President Donald Trump following his 2020 election loss, and Trump’s Georgia supporters responded by enacting a law in 2024 that bans using barcodes to count votes.

But state law still requires counties to use the machines. No money has been allocated to reprogram them, and lawmakers failed to agree on a replacement.

“We’ll have an unresolvable statutory conflict come July 1,” said House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Victor Anderson, a Cornelia Republican who backed a proposal to keep using the machines in 2026 that Senate Republicans declined to consider.

Republican House Speaker Jon Burns said he would meet with Gov. Brian Kemp and “take his temperature” on the possibility of a special session.

Kemp spokesperson Carter Chapman said he Republican governor will examine the situation.

“We’ll analyze all bills, as well as the consequence of those that did not pass,” Chapman said Friday.

House Republicans and Democrats backed Anderson's plan, which would have required that Georgia choose a voting process that didn't use QR codes by 2028. Election officials preferred that solution.

“The Senate has shown that they’re not responsible actors,” Draper said. She added that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Trump-endorsed Republican running for governor, seemed more interested in keeping Trump's backing than “doing right by Georgia voters.”

A spokesperson for Jones didn't immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.

Joseph Kirk, Bartow County election supervisor and president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, said he’ll look to the secretary of state for guidance and assumes a judge will rule to instruct election officials how to proceed.

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also running for governor, said officials are “ready to follow the law and follow the Constitution.”

Burns told reporters that his chamber was seeking to minimize changes this year.

“You can’t change horses in the middle of the stream,” Burns said.

Anderson said without action, the state could be required to use hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots in November.

Election officials say switching to a new system within just a few months, as advocated by some Republicans, would be nearly impossible.

“They made no way for this to happen except putting a deadline on it," Cherokee County elections director Anne Dover said of the switch away from barcodes. Dover said one problem under some plans is that a very large number of ballots would have to be printed.

Lawmakers seemed more concerned about scoring political points than making practical plans, Paulding County Election Supervisor Deidre Holden said.

“If anyone is resilient and can get the job done, it’s all of us election officials, but the legislators need to work with us, and they need to understand what we do before they go making laws that are basically unachievable for us,” Holden said.

Supporters of hand-marked paper ballots say voters are more likely to trust in an accurate count if they can see what gets read by the scanner.

Right-wing election activists lobbied lawmakers for an immediate switch to hand-marked paper ballots, but the House turned away from a Senate proposal to do so.

Anderson said he wasn’t sure if a special session could escape those political crosswinds, but said Georgia lawmakers must fix the problem.

“This is a legislative problem,” Anderson said. “It’s a legislative solution that has to happen.”

FILE - Voting machines are seen at the Bartow County Election office, Jan. 25, 2024, in Cartersville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)