Justin Fields' poise and play draw praise from Jets coach and teammates after a tough week
Aaron Glenn praised Justin Fields for how he handled himself during a tumultuous week and the way he played on Sunday in helping the Jets earn their first win of the season. But Glenn isn’t committing to naming Fields his starter when the Jets return from their bye week.
“I think you know what my answer is going to be on that,” Glenn said during a Monday morning Zoom call. “This is the bye week. We’re going to focus on us. Listen, I have time to make that decision. That’s one of the good things of the bye week.”
Fields played with tremendous poise and composure in a 39-38 victory over the Bengals on Sunday.
The Jets trailed by 15 heading to the fourth quarter, but Fields led them on three touchdown drives in the final period. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 244 yards with one touchdown, a two-point conversion run and a two-point conversion pass.
“He played the game exactly like we see him playing for us to win the game,” Glenn said. “There are still some things within that game that he knows he has to improve on. And that’s going to be every game.
“But yeah, he did a really good job for us yesterday. I thought he managed that game really well. I think he did it really well. So again, we’re going to take this week to really see, like how do we improve on some of these things that we didn’t do well in at the quarterback position, at running back, D-line, linebacker, all those positions.”
Many expected Fields to be benched on Sunday and Glenn to turn to Tyrod Taylor to try to lift the struggling offense.
Fields was removed at halftime of the previous week’s loss to Carolina and replaced by Taylor. Fields remained the starter when Taylor was forced out because of a knee issue that kept him limited at practice all week.
Playing against one of the NFL’s worst defenses, Fields and the Jets ran up 502 yards of offense, including 254 rushing yards — their most in both categories since 2021.
This came after owner Woody Johnson harshly criticized Fields and essentially said the Jets couldn’t win with the way he was playing.
Showing a vulnerable side, Fields admitted getting emotional at home during the week. He said he laid down in his closet and cried and asked God to help the Jets win. Fields said he nearly teared up at the end of the game but that he didn’t feel any “quote-unquote redemption” after everything that was said, including by Johnson.
“That’s outside noise at the end of the day,” Fields said. “I get that he’s the owner of the team, but that’s outside noise. The biggest thing was my teammates believing in me and my coaches still believing in me and God.”
Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said Fields showed “perseverance, grit, a lot of the things that AG wants to see in the players that he brought here.”
Phillips said he and Fields had a “heart-to-heart” conversation in the sauna during the week. Phillips came away “impressed with” Fields’ level of maturity.
“You could tell it weighed on him, but he didn’t let it waver his faith in himself and what he believes that he could do for this team,” Phillips said. “And to go put up a 500-yard, so back against the wall and that’s what you do, that’s someone that I want to play with. And there’s a reason there’s a ‘C’ [for captain] on his chest.”
Glenn said Fields opening up the way he did after the game sent a strong message to everyone, athletes included, about being human.
“I think sometimes we look at athletes of this magnitude as they’re not humans, they’re robots,” Glenn said. “They’re humans and they have feelings. They go through things. We create these storms for these players and these coaches also that some people have no idea of what they go through. But they’re just like me. They’re just like you. They’re just like anybody else.
“They go through things. It just so happens he’s such a strong-willed person that he’s built to handle things like that.”
Trade chatter
The Jets have several players who have been mentioned in trade rumors with the Nov. 4 deadline approaching. Glenn said, “When someone calls you, you listen, but action speaks louder than words.”
Two-minute drill
Safety Andre Cisco, a Valley Stream native, left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury and is undergoing further evaluation. Rookie linebacker Kiko Mauigoa is in the concussion protocol.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
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