Justin Fields had his best game of the season in the Jets victory over the Bengals.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll continue as the team’s starting quarterback.
Despite helping lead the Jets to their first victory of the year, Jets coach Aaron Glenn declined to commit to Fields as the team’s starting quarterback in their next game following the bye against the Browns on Nov. 9.
“I think you know what my answer’s going to be on that, Glenn said. “You know, this is a bye week and we’re going to focus on us.
“I have time to make that decision, and that’s one of the good things of the bye week. But seriously, this gives us a chance to really just hone in on the good, bad, and ugly, and try to get those things worked out because we know we have a ways to go.”
Glenn could be just playing games once again regarding the quarterback situation. Before he was named the starting quarterback on Saturday, Glenn was weighing who would start against the Bengals. Glenn declined to name a starter publicly, citing he didn’t want to give the Bengals a “competitive advantage.”
Fields was benched at halftime in the loss to the Panthers in Week 7, and he was uncertain if he would be behind center against Cincinnati. Glenn was rumored to be leaning towards starting backup Tyrod Taylor after he split practice reps with Fields last week. But those plans came to a screeching halt after Taylor was ruled out because of his knee injury, and he was ruled out on Saturday after not traveling with the team.
“We got to the end of the week, and talking to Tyrod, he just wasn’t comfortable,” Glenn said on Sunday. “Instead of trying to force anything between both guys, [we said], ‘Listen, Tyrod, you’re out. Justin, you’re going to play,’ and that was it.”
Sticking with Fields paid off for Glenn after the quarterback endured a tumultuous week following his benching and being blamed by Jets owner Woody Johnson for the team’s 0-7 start. Johnson said to reporters at the NFL Fall Meetings last week, “If we can just complete a pass, it would be great.”
Fields completed several passes against the Bengals after finishing 21-for-32 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown pass. The Jets offense also registered a season high in points (38) and yards (502) after coming back from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to win late in the fourth quarter after Breece Hall‘s game-winning halfback option pass to Mason Taylor with 1:54 remaining.
The Bengals’ defense was the perfect get-right game for Fields following a string of poor passing performances. Cincinnati ranks dead last in yards (407.9) and points allowed (31.6).
“Perseverance, grit, a lot of the things AG wants to see in the players that he brought here,” Jets defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said about Fields. “I was able to have a little heart-to-heart with him in the sauna this week. I was so impressed with how mature he was.
“You can tell it weighed on him, but it didn’t waver his faith in himself and what he believes he can do for this team. Then, to go put up a 500-yard performance, I don’t know the last time an offense in this organization has done that. Back against the wall and that’s what you do, that’s somebody I want to play with. And there’s a reason there’s a C on his chest, and I used to chase him around in the NFC, and I’m definitely thankful he’s leading our guys here.”
Unlike his previous six starts, Fields was decisive and accurate. He also got the ball out of the pocket with precision and wasn’t sacked once by Bengals defenders. Before Sunday, Fields was sacked 15 times in his previous two starts against the Broncos and Panthers.
Leading up to the game against the Bengals, Fields brushed off Johnson’s criticism. Following the win against Cincinnati, Fields was emotional after saying that at one point, leading up to the game, he was in his closet at his house, on the ground, crying.
But Fields says he tries to eliminate outside distractions, even if they come from the Jets’ owner.
“I get that he’s the owner of the team, but that’s outside noise,” Fields said. “The biggest thing was my teammates still believing in me, my coaches still believing in me, and God.”
Now, Fields will have to keep putting up consistent performances to prove he should remain the Jets’ starting quarterback. After the bye, the Jets will face a Browns defense that’s among the stingiest in the NFL. Cleveland is third in yards allowed (276.9), and its unit is led by Myles Garrett, who sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye five times on Sunday.
The Jets will then play at New England on a short week against a defense that also ranks eighth in yards (300.4) and fourth in points allowed (18.3).
“I wish we were playing next [week], but I do feel like this is a good time for us,” Glenn said. “Because now, man, our focus, again as it’s always been, it’s been on us and, man, some of the things that we just need to clean up. We’re going to go back and we’re going to self-scout as far as coaches and we’re going to talk to the players about things, about the good, bad, the ugly, and the solutions, also, for us moving forward.
“There’s a good and a bad to it. Obviously, after you get a win you want to continue going, but I also know that, man, there’s some things that we have to reflect on and try to continue to fix, and understand, man there’s a foundation that we’re trying to create and that is an ongoing process. Even though the record’s not where it wants to be, we feel good about the foundation that we’re trying to set, so we can be a team that’s going to win continuously.”
