New York Jets’ head coach Aaron Glenn declined to name a starting quarterback all week for the Week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. But his hand was forced Saturday afternoon as veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury, clearing the way for former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields to get back into the lineup.
Fields was previously benched in the second half of the Week 7 loss to the Carolina Panthers for Taylor. But Taylor wasn’t able to stay healthy this week, leading to Fields getting another shot.
The move for the Jets comes on the heels of a report by ESPN’s Rich Cimini that Glenn was “moving toward” officially naming Taylor the starter. But Taylor’s knee injury changed those plans.
The Jets were seemingly set to move on to Taylor as the starter after Fields, who signed a big deal in free agency, spurning the Steelers, struggled mightily. The 0-7 Jets had -10 net passing yards in their Week 6 loss to the Denver Broncos in London, and Fields threw for just 45 yards in that game. He wasn’t much better in the first half of the team’s matchup against Carolina in Week 7, throwing for 46 yards on 6-12 passing. He also took three sacks after being sacked nine times against Denver.
While Fields got off to a good start in Week 1 against the Steelers, throwing for 218 yards and a touchdown while adding another 48 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, it’s been downhill since, and the Jets were set to make a change to try and spark a team that remains the only winless team in the league.
Earlier in the week, Jets owner Woody Johnson seemed to take shots at Fields during the Fall Owners Meeting, as he told reporters that it’s “hard” for head coach Aaron Glenn with a “quarterback like that,” per NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo.
Johnson also said the Jets would look good if they could “just complete a pass,” per SI’s Albert Breer.
Johnson sounded done with the Fields experiment, which had the Jets preparing as if Taylor would be the starter. In relief of Fields in Week 7, Taylor threw for 126 yards with two interceptions. He also started in Week 3 with Fields out due to a concussion, and threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
But Fields now gets a shot at the starting job once again, and does so against a team he’s had little success against, completing just 6-of-13 passes for 60 yards and an interception, adding another 38 rushing yards on 11 attempts.
