Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals was meaningful for the Jets for a number of different reasons. Not only did the team score 23 fourth-quarter points to score their first victory of the season, but it was also Aaron Glenn’s first win as an NFL head coach, as well as a much-needed confidence boost for quarterback Justin Fields.
After losing his first six games as the Jets’ starter, including multiple games in which he threw for less than 50 yards, Fields was the subject of some critical comments from owner Woody Johnson earlier in the week, and it sounded like there was a strong chance he wasn’t going to start against Cincinnati had Tyrod Taylor been healthy enough to play.
But Fields stepped up in a huge way on Sunday, throwing for 244 yards and a touchdown to help lead the Jets to an improbable win, and he was very open and vulnerable after the game, saying the past week had been “a lot” for him, as he spent time laying on the ground and crying.
On Monday, Glenn had nothing but praise for his quarterback, both in teams of how he played on Sunday and how he handled himself off the field.
“Here's the point that I think everybody’s missing, he was being vulnerable, but he was also teaching,” Glenn said. “He was teaching everybody out there that, listen, we’re humans, and things happen in our lives. … There’s so much that comes at these players that people don’t understand. They shoot arrows at all these players, and they don’t realize these players have feelings. And I think that was huge not only for himself, but for the other athletes out there that listed to what he’s saying, that it’s bigger than football a lot of times. Being able to handle yourself in a way of personality, faith, family, all of those things have helped him be the player and the person that he is right now.
“He played the game exactly like we see him playing for us to win the game,” Glenn added. “I would say that there are still some things within that game that he knows he has to improve on, and that’s going to be every game. We’re always going to be critical of ourselves, I’m always going to be critical of offense, defense, and special teams, some things that I think we can get better at. But yeah, he did a really good job for us yesterday. I thought he managed that game really well.”
The Jets now head into their bye week, which comes as a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, perhaps it could drain a bit of the momentum the team picked up with the win in Cincinnati, but it also gives the entire team a chance to rest, reset, and do some self-scouting heading into the final nine games, starting with a Nov. 9 game at home against the Cleveland Browns.
And the question remains: will it be Fields or Taylor leading the offensive huddle when the Jets take the field that day?
Just as he was throughout the past week, Glenn was non-committal on the topic of the starting quarterback moving forward.
“I think you know what my answer is going to be on that,” Glenn said with a smile. “This is the bye week and we’re going to focus on us, and listen, I have time to make that decision.”
“And that’s one of the good things about the bye week,” Glenn said with a laugh. “But seriously, this gives us a chance to really hone in on the good, bad, and ugly, and try to get those things worked out, because we know we have a ways to go.”
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