Justin Fields will not be on the field against the Buccaneers this Sunday.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn ruled Fields out for Week 3 during his Wednesday press conference. Fields suffered a concussion in last Sunday’s loss to the Bills and will need to clear the concussion protocol in order to play against the Dolphins on Monday night in Week 4.
Tyrod Taylor will get the start for the Jets. He was 7-of-11 for 56 yards and a touchdown against the Bills and last started a game while with the Giants in 2023.
Undrafted rookie Brady Cook is on the practice squad and will likely be elevated to serve as Taylor’s backup on Sunday.
There were a couple of moments on Monday night when it looked like Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield may have been injured, but he never came out of the game and led his team to a last-second win over the Texans.
The combination of those hits and a short week may have an impact on his practice work this week, however. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Mayfield did not have any MRIs or other tests after the game, but he could miss some practice time over the next three days.
Most importantly for the Buccaneers, Mayfield is expected to be ready to go for Week 3’s game against the Jets.
Mayfield is 42-of-70 for 382 yards and five touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season.
Tom Brady’s current professional activities feel less like the post-playing exploits of a seven-time Super Bowl winner and more like the origin story of the villain in a 007 movie.
Lost in yesterday’s a-ha moment regarding his Fox/Raiders conflict of interest is that Brady will be pocketing a presumably large amount of Middle Eastern oil money to stage flag-football games in Saudi Arabia, along with multiple current players. We asked the league whether it has involvement in the event, and whether the league and/or the teams have authorized the participation of players in non-NFL football.
The league responded in an email sent earlier today: “Fanatics made us aware of the event but this is not a league initiative. It’s up to the individual clubs to provide clearance for their active players to participate.”
It’s not currently known whether the teams have given the players their blessing. Paragraph 3 of the Standard Player Contract gives the teams the ability to shut down player involvement in any other football endeavor: “Without prior written consent of the Club, Player will not play football or engage in activities related to football otherwise than for Club or engage in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury. Player represents that he has special, exceptional and unique knowledge, skill, ability, and experience as a football player, the loss of which cannot be estimated with any certainty and cannot be fairly or adequately compensated by damages. Player therefore agrees that Club will have the right, in addition to any other right which Club may possess, to enjoin Player by appropriate proceedings from playing football or engaging in football-related activities other than for Club or from engaging in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury.”
In English, teams can tell players not to play any other football. And teams can go to court to keep it from happening.
That’s the current unknown as it relates to Brady’s flag-football cash grab. Have the teams said “yes” to current players named in the release, including Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Sauce Gardner, Myles Garrett, Brock Bowers, Maxx Crosby, and Tyreek Hill? (Since Bowers and Crosby are both Raiders, it’s safe to say they’ll allow it.) Have the teams said “no”?
Or has the question simply been glossed over, with Brady assuming no one will tell him he can’t do whatever he wants to do? As to his dual roles with Fox and the Raiders, that approach is working. Very well.
The NFL tries to keep quarterbacks healthy, because quarterbacks make the game go.
In two weeks, things are going the wrong way.
Five starting quarterbacks are currently injured. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy emerged from Week 1 with a toe injury. On Sunday, four other starting quarterbacks were injured: Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (knee), Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (toe), Jets quarterback Justin Fields (concussion), and Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle).
Bills quarterback Josh Allen also got busted in the nose, but he wasn’t listed on Monday’s injury report in advance of Thursday night’s game against the Dolphins.
Last year, only two quarterbacks were injured in the early weeks of the season: Packers quarterback Jordan Love (knee) and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (concussion).
On Monday night, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield grabbed his left knee after going to the ground in the first half. He has missed no time.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields is in the concussion protocol after leaving Sunday’s loss to the Bills and it’s unclear how he’ll progress over the coming days, but the Jets can’t wait for clarity to start making plans for facing the Buccaneers in Week 3.
Head coach Aaron Glenn said at a Monday press conference that the Jets have to “build a plan that’s suitable” for Tyrod Taylor, who would be the team’s quarterback if Fields is unable to play in Tampa. Glenn said the team will have to do the same thing in the event that Fields can play, but he didn’t sound like he’ll be willing to start Fields if he’s not going to get any practice time on Wednesday or Thursday.
“It’s hard for me as a coach once we get to Friday and you haven’t had any reps,” Glenn said.
Taylor last started a game for the Giants during the 2023 season. He was 7-of-11 for 56 yards and a touchdown after Fields went down on Sunday.
