CINCINNATI — Justin Fields has been heavily criticized ever since he was drafted in 2021.
This week was different because fans and media members did not just rip him, but also Jets owner Woody Johnson, for his poor play.
At the NFL fall meetings in Manhattan on Tuesday, Johnson said about Fields, “If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.” Not only did Fields complete a pass against the Bengals, but he was a primary reason the Jets notched their first victory of the season after starting the season 0-7.
Fields played his best game since becoming a Jet. He completed 21-of-32 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown. He also helped the Jets come back from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Cincinnati. The Jets also registered 502 yards of offense, which was the most the team has had in any game this season.
“I’m not worried about what anybody outside of this building has to say,” Fields said. “Really, anyone else has to say that’s not on my team, not my teammates, not my coaches.
“All the outside noise, y’all [the media] can deal with that, whoever wants to deal with that. My main focus is my teammates, myself as a person, as a human being and with my relationship with God. There was redemption. All of that stuff is cool, but I don’t care about it.”
It has been a hellish seven days for Fields. A week ago, he was benched at halftime for Tyrod Taylor following a dreadful performance against the Panthers in which he completed just 6-of-12 passes for 46 yards. This followed a loss to the Broncos, in which Fields was sacked nine times and finished 9-of-17 for 45 yards.
After the game against the Panthers, Jets coach Aaron Glenn told reporters that he was considering a quarterback change and would consult people close to him before making that decision. While Glenn was mulling his decision, Johnson criticized the fifth-year quarterback.
Glenn also declined to name a starting quarterback, all while citing he didn’t want to give the Bengals a “competitive advantage.” But Taylor, who took a helmet to his knee, was ruled out on Saturday and the Jets finally announced Fields would be starting at Cincinnati.
“Who he is as a person, his faith and the way he goes about his business, he’s primed to be able to handle situations like this,” Glenn said. “And it’s so unfair to him, it really is that he gets criticized so much.
“But on the other hand, I told him being a quarterback, especially in the New York area, man criticism, responsibility, expectations, all those things follow you. Some of it is unwarranted, but we understand it. But he’s a perfect person to be able to handle everything that’s been thrown at him and he’s a special person.”
The Jets gave Fields a two-year, $40 million contract in March, hoping he could be their long-term solution at quarterback. But Sunday was the first time since Week 1 against the Steelers that Fields played like a starting quarterback.
Offensively, the Jets entered Sunday’s game without scoring a touchdown in two games. Fields also hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass since the Jets’ Week 5 loss to the Cowboys on Oct. 5. But he ended that drought after he connected with Tyler Johnson late in the second quarter.
On Sunday, Fields looked confident and decisive, unlike the last weeks when he held onto the ball too long inside the pocket. He also completed 65.6% of his passes, which was his highest completion percentage since the game against the Cowboys.
Then, in the final minutes, Fields helped the Jets take the lead late in the game after he helped lead them down the field. Passes to Arian Smith and Isaiah Davis helped set up Breece Hall’s game-winning halfback pass to Mason Taylor, which gave the Jets the lead for good with 1:54 remaining.
Now, Glenn and the Jets coaching staff are hoping Fields can build on this performance against the Bengals and consistently deliver performances like he did on Sunday.
“In the organization, we know he’s the type of guy that goes out there and attacks,” Jets center Joe Tippmann said about Fields. “To see him come away with this and have a dominant performance and do what he does and have fun, it was a great feeling.”
After dealing with all the scrutiny this week, Fields said it has been an emotional week. But he received support from his family, his best friend and teammates. While he isn’t on social media, Fields said it has been difficult to block out the outside noise on what people were saying about him.
But Fields has also leaned on his relationship with God to get him through these difficult times on and off the field.
“I damn near started crying,” Fields said. “Not because we won but because of the goodness of God and how everything worked for the greater good. Everything I’ve been through this past week, everything that we’ve been through as a team these past seven weeks — it’s been a lot of ups and downs.
“Yesterday, I was praying like crazy just for a win. I’m going to get pretty vulnerable right here, but this week, I found myself in my closet crying. On the ground, [lying] down. Not because of the hardships or the troubles, I felt like I was built to handle that and I was put in place to handle this situation. All that to say that God is real, God is good, and everything we go through in this life is for a purpose.”
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