On Sunday, the Jets defeated the Browns to get their second consecutive victory.
But Gang Green’s passing offense with Justin Fields under center was horrific.
He finished the game 6-of-11 with 54 yards and an interception in the 27-20 win against Cleveland. All but 12 of those yards came on Breece Hall‘s game-winning touchdown reception during the fourth quarter.
During his opening statement on Monday, Glenn told reporters not to ask who the Jets quarterback would be against the Patriots on Thursday night. But when he asked if Fields’ performance is sustainable and Glenn said he is just strictly focused on winning.
“As coaches, we coach to win the game and as players, we play to win the game,” Glenn said. “Sometimes it’s not pretty for fantasy players, sometimes it’s not pretty for the media. The only thing that matters is how we do it and the W is all that matters.
“It’s a by any means necessary type of league and my plan is to continue to coach to win the game however that may be.”
Fields, 26, has had several of the same type of games he had on Sunday this season. In the Week 2 loss to the Bills, he completed 3-of-11 for 27 yards and a lost fumble before leaving the game in the fourth quarter due to a concussion. Then, in the London loss to the Broncos on Oct. 12, Fields finished 9-of-17 with 45 yards.
However, Fields was coming off his best game as a Jet in the win against the Bengals on Oct. 26. He completed 21-of-32 passes for 244 yards with a touchdown pass after the Jets came back from down 14 points in the fourth quarter. Fields’ performance against Cincinnati came days after Jets owner Woody Johnson publicly lambasted the quarterback, blaming him for the team’s 0-7 start.
The Jets won despite Fields’ performance on Sunday, thanks to Hall, their special teams and defensive efforts in the second half. Hall finished with 125 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. Gang Green also rushed for 127 yards on 33 carries against the Browns.
For the first time in franchise history, the Jets returned both a kickoff return and a punt return for a touchdown in the same game. They also held the Browns to three points after halftime, and Will McDonald finished with four sacks, which tied John Abraham (2001) and Mark Gastineau (1983 and ’84) for the most in a single game in Jets history.
At halftime, there was a thought that the Jets might consider making a quarterback change. Fields had completed 3-of-5 passes for 5 yards with an interception. But unlike when he benched Fields after halftime in the Jets Week 7 game against the Panthers for Tyrod Taylor, Glenn stuck with Fields and the decision paid off.
With the game tied at 17-17 with 14:12 remaining and the Browns blitzing, Fields found Hall on a screen pass and the Jets took a 24-17 lead after he dove into the end zone.
“It was perfect play call,” Fields said. “In that situation, it’s really just about getting the ball out and, of course, getting the O-linemen downfield, but everybody else is one-on-one. Perfect play call, good run after catch by Breece, and the O-linemen blocking downfield was great.”
Now the Jets will go into a short week and face the AFC East-leading Patriots on “Thursday Night Football.” Although Fields’ stats may not demonstrate that, Glenn said the Jets offense did some “good things” collectively, and they will hope to carry it into their road game against New England.
“The thing is, when you get two returns like that on special teams, the offense doesn’t have a good amount of plays, especially in the passing game,” Glenn said. “We only threw 11 passes.
“Obviously, there are some things we gotta clean up there, but there are also some good things that he did. I know he threw the one pick, but I was happy he tried to force the ball downfield in that situation.”
Thomas in concussion protocol, Wilson still being evaluated
Cornerback Azareye’h Thomas, who got the second start of his career against the Browns, will miss Thursday’s game against the Patriots after being placed in concussion protocol. The rookie suffered a head injury after he collided with linebacker Jamien Sherwood when they both were trying to break up a pass.
Thomas became the Jets starting cornerback after the team traded Sauce Gardner to the Colts last week.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson continues to be evaluated, according to Glenn. Wilson left Sunday’s game after reaggravating the same knee that kept him out for two games.
“We go through this process as far as imaging and him getting checked out by the docs before we stamp what the issue is. Hopefully, he will be good to play this week, but I don’t want to stamp that just yet.”
