Jets Owner Takes Brutally Honest Shot at Justin Fields After QB's Benching

Justin Fields was benched after struggling again last week against the Panthers.
Justin Fields was benched after struggling again last week against the Panthers. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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The Jets are the only team in the NFL to not win a game so far this season. After seven weeks of play New York is firmly in the basement of the league with an 0-7 record, and offensive ineptitude has largely been to blame.

While the Jets' defense hasn't played particularly well in their own right, the Justin Fields-led offense has been horrid. They rank dead last in passing yards per game and in the bottom 10 for most other offensive metrics such as points per game, total yards, and total points. The unit completely bottomed out over the last two games, which has put it under a magnifying glass from the national audience. In consecutive losses to the Broncos and Panthers the Jets scored a combined 17 points with zero touchdowns and managed 302 yards of offense. In total.

Last week's 13-3 debacle against Carolina finally forced rookie coach Aaron Glenn's hand and he benched Fields at halftime of the defeat with the offense sputtering. Things did not turn around at all with Tyrod Taylor in instead but it's clear Glenn's patience with Fields and his version of the Jets' offense has run its course.

It sounds like the owner's patience has waned, too. Speaking to reporters ahead of the NFL owners meetings this week, Jets owner Woody Johnson took a brutally honest shot at Fields for his performance to start the year and how it's contributed to his team's winless start.

"It looks like [Glenn] is turning around parts of [the team]," Johnson said when asked about his faith in the team's head coach. "It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we got. He has the ability but something is just, it's not jiving. But you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that you're going to see similar results across the league. You have to play consistently at that position and that's what we're going to try to do."

It's a harsh evaluation from ownership. Not inaccurate, per se. Anybody who's watched the unit this year would come to a similar conclusion. But most owners tend to stay away from any overtly critical observations in the middle of the season.

Clearly Johnson had no such qualms. He followed up the above quote by dryly observing the offense would look better if they could just complete a pass.

"If we could just complete a pass, it would look good."

On the year Fields thrown for 845 passing yards and four touchdowns, paired with 257 yards and three touchdowns rushing. The Jets brought him in this past offseason in hopes they could help Fields discover himself as a passer. Clearly that hasn't been working and it was never more obvious than over the last two weeks.

Glenn has said several times that he doesn't know yet who will start in Week 8 against the Bengals. In speaking to reporters Johnson indicated the decision was up to the head coach alone. Even amidst votes of confidence from ownership today it seems paramount that Glenn make the right call going forward as he tries to earn his first win at the helm.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.