Jets' Justin Fields passes concussion protocol, will start Monday night vs. Dolphins
Jets quarterback Justin Fields has been cleared of a concussion and will play Monday night against the Dolphins in Miami, the club announced on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Justin Fields cleared the NFL concussion protocols on Friday and will start at quarterback for the Jets on Monday night against the Dolphins, coach Aaron Glenn announced on Saturday.
Fields said after practice that he felt good during the week and is ready to play, but he was bluntly honest about dealing with what he said was his first concussion, suffered late in a Sept. 14 game against the Bills at MetLife Stadium.
“Some days you feel good and some days the symptoms come back,” he said.
After feeling normal early last weekend, Fields said: “Sunday or Monday, it kind of got bad to the early symptoms again. It was up and down.”
What were those symptoms?
“Migraines throughout the day,” he said. “Sensitivity to light. That was a big one . . . I couldn’t really focus. If I tried to concentrate on a paper, I couldn’t really focus. My head would hurt. So just small stuff like that. It was kind of weird.”
Fields, 26, said this is not like playing through a normal injury, so he is trying to be smart. “I’m going to need my brain for the rest of my life,” he said.
He said he does not plan to alter his playing style and added that he sought advice on dealing with concussions from teammates such as Tyrod Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert.
He said he was “going crazy in the crib” watching the Jets lose to the Buccaneers, 29-27, without him last Sunday.
What could he bring to the offense upon his return?
“No different than we’ve talked about all through training camp and what he did in our first game [against the Steelers],” Glenn said before practice. “He’s a dynamic runner. He’s a smart player.
“I think in the passing game, he showed exactly what he can do that first game. We want to continue to expand on that and continue to get better.”
Fields played well in a 34-32 loss to Pittsburgh in the opener, completing 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards, throwing for a touchdown and rushing for two.
But before he was injured in the 30-10 loss to the Bills, he was 3-for-11 for 27 yards. His head hit the turf when he was brought down by the Bills’ Joey Bosa.
Receiver Garrett Wilson, a teammate of Fields at Ohio State, said on Friday that it would be “awesome, for sure” to get Fields back.
“His energy on the field, the way he pops up from taking hits, all that stuff is contagious,” Wilson said. “We’re all excited for ‘J’ to be back out there.”
Wilson added: “Every rep we can get together as a group, as a team, is super-valuable. Obviously, he’s a keystone of that, being the quarterback and the type of guy that he is. Just every rep that we can get with him out there is huge.”
Before practice on Friday, offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand said: “It would be great to get Justin back. There’s a reason we brought him here to be the quarterback, and again, coming off that first game was really, really good.”
What went wrong in that Bills game?
“Every week is different,” Glenn said. “I’ve been in this league a long time. I wish you could be at the top of your game every week, but that’s just not realistic, and when things went the way it went in that game, it got to a point where we really couldn’t do the things we wanted to do. It took all of us out of our game.”
Taylor started in Fields’ place against the Bucs and started slowly — including losing a fumble and throwing a pick-6 — before rallying late. He finished 26-for-36 for 197 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran eight times for 48 yards.
Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract to join the Jets this season. Glenn said Fields would start once he was ready to do so physically, and now he will.
“It wasn’t scary, it was just different,” Fields said of his concussion experience. “I didn’t expect [the symptoms] to be as bad as they were. But I’m glad I’m well now.”
Notes & quotes: Edge rusher Jermaine Johnson (ankle) is out this week.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
