Since being benched in favor of backup Tyrod Taylor on Monday, Justin Fields has become a bit of a ghost to the media. After a week of requests, Brian Costello from the Post finally managed to catch up with him at his locker on Friday.
Fields briefly stated he was too busy for a chat because he had a massage appointment. However, he did share a quick thought on his demotion: “No response,” he mentioned. “That’s life. That doesn’t happen.”
Following Aaron Rodgers’ exit, the Jets brought in Fields with a two-year, $40 million contract, mainly guaranteed. He was set as the starter but, unfortunately, the fresh start didn’t come together as hoped.
With the season currently sitting at a disappointing 2-8, Fields has seen his passing stats struggle, averaging the lowest league mark of 139.9 yards per game.
In the last five games, he’s only crossed the 200-yard mark once. For example, against the Patriots, he completed 15 of 26 passes for just 116 yards.
This lack of performance contributed to coach Aaron Glenn’s decision to make a change. Glenn, who had been tight-lipped about the starting QB, explained his reasoning on Wednesday. He mentioned that while they aimed for improvement in the passing game, the underlying issues weren’t solely on Fields. “It was me, the routes I ran, the balls that were dropped, and that included him,” Glenn said. He indicated the need to energize the passing game and emphasized that his confidence in Fields remained strong, justifying the decision to make a change.
This Sunday marks the start of the Taylor era for the Jets, who will face off against the Ravens, currently at 5-5. Taylor’s second start comes after he took over for Fields when he suffered a concussion in Week 3 against the Buccaneers.
In other news, DL Eric Watts was spotted with a new jersey number during practice the other day, switching from 95, which was previously associated with Quinnen Williams, to 58.
On the injury front, Nwanwu (hamstring), McDonald (quadriceps), Phillips (foot), and McCrary-Ball (hamstring) are all listed as questionable. Phillips and Nwanwu had limited participation during Friday’s practice.
