In a losing effort against the Steelers, Justin Fields played superb football.
But the Jets still came up short during the 34-32 loss to Pittsburgh in Week 1.
Not only did he use his legs, but Fields was also efficient in the passing game.
During the preseason, Fields was criticized for his uneven practices and for at times not throwing the ball down the field, and Jets coach Aaron Glenn was quick to remind the media about that on Monday morning.
“Well, guys, that’s who he is,” Glenn said about Fields. “I mean, I think each one of you guys were dogging them all through the preseason about what he can’t do, and I think he’s just showed what he can do.
“So, we’re all going to say this, that, you know, there are some things that he could have done better and obviously he’s going to feel the same way. But, man, this is a step-by-step process, and we know that he’s not done with his progression as far as getting better. So the only thing that we’re looking at is just continue to be efficient, continue to be yourself, and don’t let any outside noise try to distract you from what you can be.”
Throughout training camp and the preseason, there were plenty of reasons to be concerned with Fields and the passing game. He struggled during his two joint practices against the Giants. Fields also had more rushing yards than passing during his final preseason game against Big Blue.
But none of that matters now after Fields completed 16-of-22 passes for 218 yards with a touchdown pass against Pittsburgh. He also used his legs to evade the Steelers’ pass rushers after rushing for 48 yards and registering two scores.
Fields had struggled with accuracy throughout his career with the Bears and Steelers before signing a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets last offseason. He completed 72.7% of his passes against the Steelers.
The Jets want Fields to be the catalyst for their pass-heavy offense and he certainly was against the Steelers. Fields did something in his first Jets game that they had only done once with former quarterback Aaron Rodgers: registered 32 points. He led the Jets to four consecutive scoring drives before halftime.
“I’ve said this on a number of times, I just want our quarterback to be efficient,” Glenn said. “And he went out and he did that. Listen, with him in the run game, the way that he runs the read option game and he makes a decision on keeping the ball. I thought he was outstanding on that.
“I mean, some of these throws that he got out to the pocket and he set himself up, got a shoulder square and delivered the ball, I thought it was outstanding. And to me, those are things that he continued to improve on. And he’s going to continue to improve on those things. So this is just the first game. I expect him to continue to get better at that.”
The Jets’ offensive line, which was a central question entering the game, certainly aided Fields’ performance. After having the fewest rushing attempts in the NFL last season, the Jets ran for 182 yards and averaged 4.7 per attempt.
Jets right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker was placed on injured reserve after he was ruled out for the season after he tore his triceps during practice. That forced them to move Joe Tippmann, who was the Jets’ starting center for the previous two seasons, to right guard and insert Josh Myers at center.
Even without Vera-Tucker, the Jets put their physical run offense on display. Breece Hall rushed for 107 rushing yards, which was his first 100-yard game since last October against the Bills.
“I mean, this is the O-Line that really wants to show their physicality, understand exactly who they are,” Glenn said. “You’ve got to give Moug [Darren Mougey] and our scouting staff a lot of credit because listen, AVT goes down and we put [Josh] Myers in, Tippmann goes over to right guard and here we go.
“You know, those guys, they didn’t blink, not one bit. And that shows a lot, you know, from what we’ve been trying to create, you know, all through training camp, of listen, one guy’s going to go down, it’s not going to stop this train of what we’re trying to do.”
