Could a quarterback change finally be on the horizon for the Jets?
The Jets’ two-game losing streak came to an end on Thursday night as they lost to the AFC East-leading Patriots, 27-14. And once again, Justin Fields had another abysmal performance. He completed 15-of-26 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown pass.
When asked on Friday if he was considering a change at quarterback, Glenn didn’t push back like he did after the Jets’ Week 6 loss to the Broncos in London.
“I’m evaluating everything to be honest,” Glenn said. “I’m evaluating myself, the players, schematics, coaches, I’m evaluating everything.
“I don’t want to just place everything on that one situation. I’m just looking at everything because, as a head coach, that’s my job. To make sure I put this team in the best position to win games.”
Following his 9-of-17 for 45 yards performance against the Broncos on Oct. 12, Glenn was asked about benching Fields and he shot back at the reporter by saying, “C’mon, man, what kind of question is that?” It was a good question considering Fields has continued to struggle with accuracy, holding onto the ball too long at times and making the right decisions in the passing game.
Glenn benched Fields for Tyrod Taylor at halftime the following week during the loss against the Panthers after he completed just 6-of-12 passes for 46 yards during the first 30 minutes. It was rumored that Glenn was leaning towards starting Taylor against the Bengals in Week 8, but the veteran quarterback suffered a knee injury against Carolina and was ruled out. Fields has continued to start despite his Week 7 benching.
Following their 72-yard touchdown drive to start the game against the Patriots on Thursday, Fields and the Jets offense were predictable and, at times, lifeless. The Jets did not record another first down during the first half after their opening drive.
“Not good enough,” Fields said about his performance against New England. “You know, we lost the game, so wasn’t good enough. Every time we lose, my performance isn’t good enough.”
But Glenn says he didn’t consider pulling Fields down 14-7 at halftime despite him having just 23 passing yards during the first 30 minutes of the game.
“At that point, I wasn’t because I was hoping that we could try to get the magic back of what we had in that first drive,” Glenn said. “We have to look at each drive as if it’s our openers because if you look at what we’ve done on a number of our openers, we’ve moved the ball quite a bit.
“We have to do a better job of not just doing it in the open drive, but being continuously doing that as we go through those other series.”
Through his nine starts, Fields is averaging 140 passing yards per game, which is 33rd among qualifying quarterbacks. He has thrown seven touchdowns during that span, which places him tied for 29th in the NFL with Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Not all the blame should be pointed towards Fields. The Jets’ defense certainly didn’t do its job against the Patriots, as it left several receivers open for most of the night and missed tackles. Gang Green was without star receiver Garrett Wilson, who was placed on injured reserve hours before kickoff, meaning he will miss at least the Jets’ next three games. In Wilson’s absence, the Jets pass catchers had trouble holding onto the football.
The only consistent area with the Jets’ offense is that it has been among the worst in the NFL. They rank 29th in yards (281.5) and 26th in points per game (20.9). At 2-8, Glenn could look to Taylor to just get any spark and new energy for a dull offense.
“To me, it’s more or less, I’m trying to make the best decision to give our guys a chance to win,” Glenn said. “Because to me, a spark is really a short-term deal.
“I don’t know if this is what other coaches’ decisions are, but I want to make the decision to give us a chance to win. Whatever that evaluation process comes out to, just know that the reason why I make the decisions that I make is because it gives us the best chance of winning.”
