Justin Fields needs to start showing he can lead Jets' turnaround
Jets quarterback Justin Fields looks to throw during training camp at the Atlantic Health Training Center on Saturday in Florham Park, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
It’s way too early to start panicking over Justin Fields’ unimpressive production in Jets training camp and his lackluster passing performances this week in particular. These are just practices, Fields is still acclimating himself to a new system with new teammates, and we are only about halfway through the preseason ramp up toward the Sept. 7 opener.
But for a Jets fan who relies on the reports that flow from Florham Park to keep abreast of the goings on with their favorite team it may be hard to determine which news has caused more dread: Last month’s breathless play-by-play of him getting hurt and being taken off the field in a cart, or the equally disturbing drip-drip-drip of social media posts that compile his disappointing throwing stats. And yes, the offense has looked as bad as it has sounded.
The Jets don’t allow fans or the media who attend the workouts to film or post any of the plays because they fear it could be a competitive disadvantage. They might want to reconsider that policy just to start sowing overconfidence in defensive opponents if the woe continues.
The first of those red alerts turned out to be something of a false alarm, a dislocated toe that caused him to miss a few team reps but return to practically full participation within days.
The second? Maybe it too will be a laughable overreaction. We may look back on this phase of Fields’ development from a vantage point later in the season and giggle at the unnecessary angst it caused.
Then again . . .
These new-look, new-feel Jets under the leadership of coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey have so far done just about everything right. They have the locker room, the building, and most of the city believing that they are going in a positive direction. So far there hasn’t been much to detract from those vibes.
But having the guy they hand-picked to be their quarterback, the one they signed in free agency and coronated their starter without so much as a flicker of competition, the one for whom they abandoned Aaron Rodgers, be anything approaching a flop? That would be a honeymoon killer and set their progress back before they even start producing tangible evidence of success.
It's why it is imperative that Fields begins to show the kinds of plays that made him a first-round pick very quickly, not only for the sake of the Jets’ won-lost record this season, but for the good of the momentum that has been building since way back in January.
That there isn’t much evidence from Fields’ spotty past to suggest he is capable of providing that kind of sigh of relief is a bit worrisome, but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. As the Jets move into the next few weeks where they begin facing other teams in more realistic scenarios there is a chance Fields’ skills begin to flourish. He’ll become a bigger part of the running game himself, which should make his passing more efficient. The pace of play will quicken and that should be a boon to his style as well.
That’s the hope at least. So far hope is all Fields has provided, dwindling as it may be.
Beyond the missed routes, askew throws and sloppy interceptions (some of which came on dropped or deflected passes that were not Fields’ fault) there were a few questionable plays in the most recent Jets practice on Tuesday morning that one would have hoped Fields, in his fifth NFL season, had grown by now. His day began getting to the line of scrimmage and beginning his cadence while the Jets offense had just 10 players on the field. That should have been something he noticed and corrected in the huddle. The defense appeared to catch on to the deficiency before he did, though, and the play was scrapped before the ball was snapped.
Later, with his full allotment of teammates, Fields managed to get a pass away for Garrett Wilson but only because an unblocked Michael Clemons had the rare wherewithal to pull up and not drill the quarterback. Had it been a live play against an actual opponent Fields would have been leveled.
Accounting for the rushers at the line of scrimmage is an offensive line issue, but also one a more aware quarterback should be able to fix pre-snap. A few plays later he was again sacked, this time by Jamien Sherwood, who wound up face-to-face with the quarterback with his hands on Fields’ hips as if they were swaying at a USO dance. Fields held onto the ball during a play in which he should have either scrambled or thrown it away.
The final error may have been the most frustrating, though. The Jets were practicing a late-in-a-half drive with very little time remaining on the clock and after a quick gain everyone had to sprint to the line of scrimmage so Fields could spike the ball. He did just that with three seconds left to set up a theoretical field goal. Only problem was Breece Hall hadn’t yet gotten back in position. It drew an illegal formation penalty and would have ended the half or game with a loss of five yards and a runoff even though Fields still had several more beats to wait for Hall to get into proper position.
Fields purposely threw the ball into the turf as a strategy to stop the clock but it may have been his worst incompletion in a week that had seen far too many of them to begin with.
The Jets don’t have very many options behind Fields. Veteran backup Tyrod Taylor is a perfect complement to the roster for a few snaps or even a couple of spot starts, but he isn’t the quarterback the Jets want to be rallying around for the majority of the year. The fact he is already missing practice time from “wear and tear” on his knee, as Glenn described it, suggests his reputation for getting injured is not just urban legend. Behind Taylor are Adrian Martinez and Brady Cook. Not very appealing.
So yeah, this is going to be Fields’ season. His play will define it. He — not Glenn or Mougey or any of his teammates — will determine how this fresh start era for the Jets really begins.
That’s why it’s important for him to begin playing better as soon as possible.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
