Sunday’s game in Cincinnati ended with a Jets celebration, but the day began on a more somber note.
Longtime Jets center Nick Mangold died at the age of 41 after battling kidney disease and head coach Aaron Glenn took some time to talk about Mangold at the start of his postgame press conference. Glenn did not play for the Jets at the same time as Mangold, but he was in the organization during Mangold’s 11 years with the team and he said Mangold was a vital member of the organization.
“I didn’t play with him, but I was here as a scout when he was playing and he was the heart and soul of the team,” Glenn said. “He had a number of kids and it’s always tough to hear that, especially a guy who’s a true Jet through and through — that made his appearance felt. Prayers go out to him and his family. It’s tough to hear because of who he was as person, him being a true Jet.”
Mangold was a two-time All-Pro for the Jets and is in the team’s Ring of Honor. They will be back at home after their Week 9 bye and there will likely be further celebrations of his life once the team is back in their home stadium.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields shrugged off negative comments from team owner Woody Johnson earlier this week, but it was clear after Sunday’s 39-38 win over the Bengals that the travails of the first seven weeks had an impact on him.
Johnson pinned much of the blame for the Jets’ 0-7 start on Fields, who was benched at halftime of Week 7’s loss to the Panthers. Tyrod Taylor’s knee injury meant that Fields remained in the starting lineup and he went 21-of-32 for 244 yards to help the Jets to their first victory of the season.
After the game, Fields said that he spent a lot of time praying this week because the tough run has “been a lot for me emotionally, spiritually.”
“I’m going to get pretty vulnerable right here,” Fields said, via SNY. “This week I found myself in my closet crying on the ground, lying down. Not because of the hardships, not because of the troubles. I felt like I was built to handle that and I was put in place to handle this situation.”
Fields said Johnson’s comments were “outside noise” and that the “biggest thing was my teammates believing in me and my coaches believing in me” heading into Sunday. Leaning on his faith allowed Fields to repay their faith with a much needed win.
It took a while and it didn’t look pretty for much of Sunday, but Aaron Glenn has his first win as the Jets’ head coach.
Running back Breece Hall threw a four-yard touchdown to tight end Mason Taylor with 1:54 to play and the Jets took their a 39-38 lead with the extra point.
It looked like the Bengals’ bid to pull out the win might unfold without quarterback Joe Flacco because he went to the locker room after being sacked by Jets edge rusher Will McDonald on a third down in the fourth quarter. Flacco returned after the touchdown, however, and the Jets defense had to come up with a stop after being run over most of the day.
The Bengals picked up a quick first down and the Jets just missed an interception when linebacker Jamien Sherwood broke up a pass for wide receiver Andrei Iosivas. A short run on second down was followed by Flacco throwing the ball away under pressure on third down, so the Bengals’ chances came down to a fourth-and-9 from their 45-yard line. Flacco’s pass to Iosivas was incomplete and the Jets got to celebrate their first win of the season.
The Jets trailed 38-24 after a touchdown run by Bengals running back Chase Brown with over 10 minutes to play, but Hall’s 27-yard touchdown run moved them back within eight points. Glenn opted to try for two and Justin Fields’ pass to running back Isaiah Davis was ruled to be a good conversion after a replay.
Glenn’s decision to go for two was questioned by the CBS booth, but the gambit wound up paying off for him.
McDonald’s sack forced a Bengals punt and Fields opened the game-winning drive with a 23-yard pass to wide receiver Arian Smith. Three more first downs put them in position for Hall’s pass and the day was vindication for Fields after a week that saw him get trashed by Jets owner Woody Johnson. It looked like he’d be benched as well, but Tyrod Taylor’s knee injury kept him from playing and Fields had his best day as a passer in Sunday’s win.
Fields was 21-of-32 for 244 yards and a touchdown while also running for a two-point conversion. Hall had 18 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns to pace a rushing attack that picked up 254 yards on Sunday.
The Bengals ran for 181 yards of their own, but the offense wasn’t able to do enough to overcome a defense that could not come up with the right answers for the Jets all day. They are now 3-5 and will need a win at home against the Bears next Sunday to put themselves back on track.
The 1-7 Jets will have extended time to enjoy the win before returning to action at home against the Browns in Week 10.
Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson was able to get on the field for the Bengals Sunday, but he’s back on the bench with a hip injury.
The Bengals announced that Hendrickson has been ruled out of the game after aggravating the injury. Hendrickson limped off the field late in the first half and was moving gingerly on his way to the locker room.
Hendrickson was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday before sitting out practice entirely on Friday. He had one tackle before his injury.
The Bengals took a 24-13 lead into halftime and they forced a Jets punt on the first possession of the third quarter.
Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco had a big first half against one of his former teams.
Flacco ran for a touchdown to kick off the scoring in Cincinnati and he added a pair of passing touchdowns later in the first half. Jets quarterback Justin Fields threw a touchdown and led another scoring drive just before halftime to cut the Bengals’ lead to 24-13.
The Jets will have the ball coming out of halftime and they’ll hope for a third straight scoring drive to help their bid for their first win of the season.
Flacco is 15-of-20 for 178 yards and the touchdowns went to wide receiver Tee Higgins and running back Chase Brown. Brown also has seven carries for 45 yards and Ja’Marr Chase has eight catches for 61 yards.
Fields seemed to be on track for a benching before Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury on Saturday, but he’s been much better than he was the last two weeks. He is 11-of-16 for 123 yards and he’s avoided sacks while running for 17 yards.
