Jets' Aaron Glenn won't reveal starting quarterback vs. Bengals

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Glenn has decided who will be his starting quarterback Sunday in Cincinnati, but he’s not revealing his choice.

“We will have a quarterback on Sunday,” Glenn said Wednesday afternoon. “I will tell you that.”

It was expected that Glenn would bench Justin Fields and start Tyrod Taylor because of how the offense has performed for the 0-7 Jets. That may ultimately be Glenn’s decision, but he said he doesn’t want Cincinnati to know his plan.

“I wouldn’t want to give them a competitive advantage when I have that opportunity,” Glenn said. “But we’ll have a quarterback.”

This is an interesting approach since neither quarterback has played well. Fields and Taylor have combined for 10 total touchdowns and six turnovers. The Jets offense hasn’t gotten in the end zone in two consecutive games.

Fields said he and Taylor split the reps in practice and pled ignorance about who’s starting.

“I honestly don’t know,” Fields said. “That’s a question for AG.”

An interesting twist is Taylor was limited due to a knee issue. Glenn said Taylor is day-to-day but sounded confident about his availability this week.

Fields has started six games for the Jets. He’s led eight touchdown drives, but only four since Week 1. The Jets haven’t scored a first-half TD in six straight games; Fields started five.

Glenn removed Fields at halftime of last week’s 13-6 loss to Carolina and replaced him with Taylor. The offense moved better with Taylor. Fields threw for 46 yards and Taylor 126 against the Panthers. Fields has thrown for a total of 91 yards in the last two games.

Fields’ subpar performance — after the Jets signed him to a two-year contract with $30 million guaranteed — drew some harsh criticism from owner Woody Johnson.

Speaking at the NFL meetings Tuesday, Johnson expressed confidence and faith in Glenn and just the opposite in Fields.

“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we’ve got,” Johnson said. “He has the ability but something is not jiving. But if you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that you will see similar results across the league.”

Johnson also said, “If we could complete a pass it would look good. You have to complete a pass. You have to convince them you can do something, otherwise it’s hard to have a game you can win.”

Despite Johnson’s remarks, Glenn said who starts Sunday is his call.

“Woody leaves all that up to me,” Glenn said. “Woody puts that in my hand as far as who plays, and I don’t see that changing. He trusts me to make that decision. He made a comment, and he has every right to his comment.”

Fields said he was not aware of what Johnson said about him. Fields is not on social media and said no one briefed him about Johnson’s harsh criticisms. When it was finally relayed to him, the extremely spiritual Fields brushed it off.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Fields said. “It doesn’t. Everybody knows I need to play better, we need to play better as a team. No matter how the offense does as a whole unit, I’m going to get blame, and I understand that. That’s what comes with the job. So you can’t let anything kind of affect your mind . . .

“No matter if it’s him, no matter if it’s family members or even teammates, sometimes, there’s going to be times where you have to be the only one who believes in yourself. So that’s his opinion. I’m at peace and all my focus right now is working each and every day and getting better.”

Fields does not feel the need to have a conversation with Johnson. Fields said he’s had limited interactions with the Jets’ owner.

“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields said. “It’s not going to make me play better. It’s not going to give me more confidence on the field. So I don’t think there’s necessarily a point in talking about that, and I doubt he would come and talk to me.

“I’m not sure how he feels about the situation at all, but I don’t have any plans [to] go up [and] press him about what he said. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You have a choice [of] whether those opinions affect you or not.”

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.