New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn remained steadfast in his commitment to Justin Fields as the starting quarterback on Monday after initially bristling at the question following Gang Green’s heinous 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in London.
Fields, who is in the first season of a two-year contract to prove that he is the Jets’ franchise quarterback, had his worst game yet, completing 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards.
He missed easy throws and, more egregiously, held on to the ball for far too long, which resulted in nine sacks. Behind his struggles, the Jets’ offense accounted for a measly 82 total yards — the third fewest in a single game in franchise history.
Yet, when Glenn was asked following the game if Fields would remain as the starter, he shot back, ‘What kind of a question is that?”
“When you look at what Justin did, the games that he’s played, I didn’t think he looked bad at all,” Glenn said on Monday morning. “I actually think he did some pretty good things in those first four games. In this fifth game, he took a step back. I’m with you guys 100%. We can’t have that. We have to be better than that, and he knows that. He knows that better than anyone. I don’t think you just try to bench a player after having one true bad game.”
Fields’ production has been a mixed bag to start his Jets career. He’s completed 80 of his 123 attempts, which is better than his career 61.8% completion rating, for 799 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He’s added another 235 yards and three scores on the ground, suggesting a legitimate dual threat is there to work with.
The problem is that the Jets are 0-6 for just the third time in franchise history (1996, 2020) and are the only winless team in the NFL this season.
“We’re trying to build a foundation making sure we can win consistently,” Glenn said. “You can’t just throw things out there, have an unstable foundation, and expect things to go just right. To win consistently, there has to be improvement… Everybody wants to win, but no wants to go through the hard stuff. That’s what we’re going through right now.”
