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Justin Fields Takes High Road After First Jets Win, Woody Johnson Criticism

Kristen Wong

Jets quarterback Justin Fields got his first win of the season in Sunday's Week 8 victory over the Bengals.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields got his first win of the season in Sunday's Week 8 victory over the Bengals. / Screengrab on Twitter/ @NFLonCBS
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It took eight long and grueling weeks, but the Jets finally have their first win of the 2025 season after a thrilling comeback victory over the Bengals on Sunday afternoon.

The Jets started quarterback Justin Fields with Tyrod Taylor out due to injury, and Fields put together a clean and solid performance throwing for 244 yards and one touchdown to lead his team to a long-awaited win. Fields got the start this week despite Jets owner Woody Johnson's critical comments toward the fifth-year signal-caller when Johnson said, "It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we got."

Some in NFL media took issue with Johnson's public takedown of Fields, but the young quarterback didn't seem to think much of it.

Fields met with CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala after Sunday's 39-38 win and took the high road, choosing to brush off Johnson's words and instead focus on his teammates and the emotions of the big moment.

"God is good. That's all I gotta say," Fields said. "All the trials and tribulations we've had this whole season, from last week to this week, to just all the noise around, like I said earlier in the week, I've found my peace with [Woody Johnson].

"We did a great job. I just told the guys before the game, three things: belief, focus, and just playing free and having fun out there. I'm proud of all the guys. ... We keep going."

Fields more directly addressed Johnson's comments about him earlier this week, telling reporters that it "didn't bother him" and that he was "at peace" with it.

In any case, it's great to see the Jets quarterback smiling given his rocky first season in New York and up-and-down NFL career thus far. Congrats to Fields, and may he have many more reasons to celebrate entering the second half of his 2025 campaign.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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