The New York Jets’ first-year brain trust of general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn see Justin Fields as the potential starting quarterback of the future, but some members of Gang Green’s roster have reportedly already seen enough.
According to Connor Hughes of SNY, “several within the [Jets’] locker room… believe Taylor is their best quarterback.”
Glenn especially does not see it that way. He doubled down on keeping Fields in the starter’s role on Monday despite a miserable showing in London on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. In that game, he completed just nine of 17 passes for a measley 47 yards while getting sacked nine times — most of them his fault for holding onto the ball for too long.
With it, the Jets are now 0-6 for the third time in franchise history (1996, 2020) and are the first team to start 0-6 while averaging less than 150 net passing yards per game since the 2005 Houston Texans (h/t Hughes). Fields’ numbers have been mediocre, but the promise of creating a dual-threat quarterback given his mobility is what is keeping him under center for the time being.
Taylor, who has been a career backup for the last 15 years, has performed well enough when called upon by Glenn. Starting for a concussed Fields in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he nearly led New York to victory by completing 26 of 36 passes for 197 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. The Jets faltered late in a 29-27 loss against a Bucs team that is currently 5-1 and one of the feel-good stories of the NFL this season.
Fields, meanwhile, has completed more than 26 passes just once in five attempts this season, and his 159.8 average passing yards per game is well short of what Taylor did in just one start.
Thankfully for the Jets, their difficult schedule eases up significantly. They play the lowly Carolina Panthers and a Cincinnati Bengals team that looks lost without their starting quarterback, Joe Burrow.
Perhaps this will be Fields’s last chance to prove he can be Glenn’s starter. If he can’t, a number of players will get their wish sooner rather than later and get Taylor under center.
