After Sunday’s loss to the Broncos, during which the Jets offense gave new meaning to the term “offensive,” coach Aaron Glenn bristled at a question regarding whether he’d bench starting quarterback Justin Fields.
By Monday morning, Glenn had a more measured response, after reflecting on the question that was asked about whether Fields should sit.
“When you look at what Justin did, the games that he played,” Glenn told reporters. “Listen, I didn’t think he was bad at all. I actually thought he did some pretty good things in those four games. In this fifth game, he took a step back. I’m with you guys 100 percent. And we can’t have that. And we have to get better than that. And he knows that. Ann he knows that better than anyone. So I don’t think you try to bench a player after having one true bad game. Because I thought the other games he played fairly well.”
This opens the door to potentially benching Fields if he has another bad game.
And Sunday’s game was bad. Minus-10 net passing yards, fueled by nine sacks. Fields repeatedly held the ball for too long.
The Jets host the suddenly-hot Panthers on Sunday before playing the Bengals in Cincinnati. Then comes the bye. It’s on Fields to turn it around soon, or Tyrod Taylor will likely be getting a chance to help the Jets turn yet another bad season around — and to perhaps keep Glenn from being one and done as the team’s head coach.
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson was unhappy with the team’s gameplan during Sunday’s 13-11 loss to the Broncos and he was in pain after it.
Wilson was checked out on the sideline a couple of times during the loss and said after the game that he had X-rays taken. Wilson said he also expects to go for an MRI when the team returns from London.
“I can imagine we’ll do that and get all the intel and then figure this out,” Wilson said.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said that Wilson hurt his hip, but Wilson said that wasn’t the issue of chief concern. Connor Hughes of SNY reports that his knee will be the subject of further tests.
With the Jets falling to 0-6 on Sunday in London and quarterback Justin Fields having his worst game of the year, the question was inevitable. Jets coach Aaron Glenn nevertheless didn’t appreciate it.
“Justin’s numbers were not good from this game,” a reporter asked. “Is he going to be your quarterback next week, or would you consider —"
“Come on, man, what kind of question is that?” Glenn said.
“He did not have a good game,” the reporters replied. “I mean, I think it’s a fair question.”
“There’s a number of guys that, you know, I mean, sometimes this league is like this,” Glenn said. “There are guys that have bad games. That doesn’t mean you just bench him. Come on, you know better than that.”
It is a fair question. Fields completed nine of 17 for 45 yards. Factoring in the 55 yards lost on nine sacks, the net passing yards were minus-10.
Here’s another fair question. Why did the Jets give Fields a two-year, $40 million contract, with $30 million fully guaranteed at signing? The 49ers got Mac Jones for two years, $8.4 million. The Colts got Daniel Jones for one year, $14 million.
In hindsight, they overpaid Fields. And they may have picked the wrong guy to run the offense. At this point, their choices are to admit the mistake and bench Fields for Tyrod Taylor, or double down and hope things get better.
The Jets have two more games before the bye — Panthers and Bengals. If they can’t win one or both, changes could be coming. After today, it looks like there won’t be quarterback change. Which could mean other changes will be made in order to shift the blame away from Fields.
Many people watching Sunday morning’s game between the Jets and Broncos in London were scratching their heads about the Jets’ handling of their final possession of the first half.
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson had an even stronger reaction. Cameras caught Wilson shouting at head coach Aaron Glenn as the team made their way off the field after letting time run out without running a play for the final 37 seconds of the half. The Jets had converted a fake punt with over a minute left to retain control of the ball, but they moved without urgency throughout the rest of the drive despite being near midfield.
“I just didn’t know exactly what the plan was. Once I figured it out, I was disappointed,” Wilson said, via Zack Rosenblatt of TheAthletic.com.
Glenn said the team handled things that way because they didn’t want to give the Broncos the ball back with a timeout and time left to put points on the board. When asked about Wilson, Glenn said, via SNY, “who wouldn’t be pissed” with the way things were going offensively in the game.
The Broncos won’t find much to like about their offensive performance in London on Sunday, but their defense did enough to send them back to Denver with a win.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields was sacked nine times and the Jets failed to score a touchdown during the Broncos’ 13-11 win. The victory moves the Broncos to 4-2 ahead of a Week 7 home date with the Jets’ co-tenants at MetLife Stadium.
When the Broncos face the Giants, they’ll try to find a better plan for quarterback Bo Nix and company. Nix threw a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter, but the Broncos did not score any points over the next two quarters. Nix did not have a completion in the third quarter and a holding penalty in the end zone on guard Quinn Meinerz put the Jets up 11-10 at one point.
Nix found his footing with four completions on a drive that led to Wil Lutz’s go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter, but a sack on third down with around three minutes to play left the Jets with a chance to pull out a win. The Jets got across midfield, but a sack by Justin Strnad moved them back and another sack on fourth down ended the game. That sack came when the Jets opted to run a play rather than try a 62-yard field goal.
The Jets managed 82 offensive yards in the game as Fields went 9-of-17 for 45 yards. The Broncos only had 248 yards, so fans in London may not be clamoring for another visit from either of these clubs any time soon.
Among the questions Jets head coach Aaron Glenn will field after the game was the team’s bizarre approach to the end of the first half. They had the ball near midfield down 10-6 with a minute left, but ran three plays and then let the final 35 seconds run off the clock without running a fourth play. Give the team’s record and where they were on the field in a close game, it was curious decision making that continues a rough start to Glenn’s tenure with the team.
They will host the Panthers next Sunday in their next bid to pick up their first win of the year.
