Jets' Aaron Glenn hasn't decided on his starting quarterback for Week 8

Aaron Glenn needs some time to think, and he wants to reach out to coaches he knows and respects before deciding who will start at quarterback for the Jets on Sunday in Cincinnati.

Glenn made the switch in-game Sunday, benching starter Justin Fields at halftime and replacing him with backup Tyrod Taylor in a 13-6 loss to the Panthers. Glenn, a first-time head coach, plans to really reflect and evaluate everything and make sure what he decides is the best option for the Jets.

“That’s something that I want to continue to look at,” Glenn said during a Monday Zoom call. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into that for me personally, and then being able to [get with] the staff and then just being able to ask other coaches that have been in the situation, how would they handle that?

“I’m not running away from the question at all. The thing is, I want to make sure that I make the right decision. And I don’t want to make rash decisions, either. I just want to make sure when the decision is made, it’ll be the right one.”

The Jets are 0-7 and have gone two games without a touchdown. They haven’t scored a first-half touchdown in their last six games. Fields started five of them and Taylor the other because Fields had a concussion.

Glenn said he will pick the quarterback he believes will give the Jets the best chance to beat the Bengals.

“This is a week-to-week league,” he said. “You have to make sure you get yourself prepared to win every week because every team gives you different challenges. So my mindset right now is who gives us the best chance to win, to be honest with you.”

Fields has not performed well as the Jets’ starting quarterback since Week 1, when he led four touchdown drives against the Steelers. In the 50 series that he has played since then, the Jets have scored four touchdowns. He has thrown for 91 yards in 18 possessions in the past two games.

Taylor hasn’t lit up the scoreboard, either. He has led three touchdown drives in 18 series. He moved the ball better than Fields on Sunday, throwing for 126 yards, but he also had two costly interceptions.

“I thought the offense moved the ball better, but that has a number of things that you have to look at,” Glenn said. “Number one, we were more in a hurry-up situation, which I think he’s done a really good job of. But man, the two picks are something that’s tough, and you can’t have that .  .  . But I would say this: In that stretch, we did move the ball a bit better.”

After the game, Taylor said he wants to be the starter but won’t “feel any way emotionally about whatever Coach chooses to decide.”

The Jets’ offense has been alarmingly inept overall. They have allowed an NFL-leading 31 sacks and rank last in passing offense at 143.4 yards per game.

Fields isn’t solely to blame, but the Jets gave him a two-year contract with $30 million guaranteed because they felt he would thrive in their system. Glenn was confident that he and coordinator Tanner Engstrand could develop Fields and bring out the best in him as a complete quarterback.

It’s been quite the opposite. Fields has thrown for fewer than 50 yards in three games in the past six weeks. They are his three lowest outputs in games he’s started in four-plus seasons in the NFL.

“I think there’s blame to go around on a number of things,” Glenn said. “We have to continue to figure out like how do we put him in the best position to be successful. We also have to look at, Justin has to execute. So there’s a number of things that go into that.

“We’re not going to point the finger and blame just one person at all. We’re not just saying it’s Justin’s fault. We’re not going to say it’s coaching. That’s a situation where we all have to come together and do the best we can as far as trying to put guys in position and [for] guys [to] execute.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.