Justin Fields was knocked around, sacked nine times and held onto the ball way too long at times.
It was a brutally rough day for the New York Jets quarterback and the offense, which was stunningly — and historically — bad in a 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in London.
The team is 0-6 after putting up a franchise-worst minus-10 net yards passing against the Broncos, and Aaron Glenn is the first Jets coach to begin his tenure with six losses. Still, Glenn isn’t about to pull the plug on Fields.
“I don’t think you just try to bench a player after having one true bad game,” Glenn said Monday. “Because I thought the other games he played fairly well.”
Fields has just four touchdown passes and 799 yards passing in five starts this season. He has no interceptions, which is a positive, and so are his 235 yards rushing and three TD runs.
But the passing game has been spotty — and then embarrassingly bad on an international stage. Fields went 9 of 17 for 45 yards, getting as many completions as sacks. New York’s 82 net yards of offense were the third fewest in franchise history.
“When you look at what Justin did, the games that he played, listen, I didn’t think he was bad at all,” Glenn said. “I actually thought he did some pretty good things in those four games.
“In this fifth game, he took a step back. I’m with you guys 100%. And we can’t have that. And we have to get better than that, and he knows that.”
Glenn initially bristled Sunday when asked if he would consider a quarterback change. But it’s a valid idea, especially with the offense coming off such a pitiful display. Veteran Tyrod Taylor, who started in the injured Fields’ place in Week 3, is the backup. Even with Fields’ struggles Sunday, Glenn refused to make a switch.
“I think that’s always an issue because now you start to bring in the dynamic of, man, the quarterback’s always thinking, ‘Am I gonna get pulled if things are not going right?’” Glenn said. “I think there are a number of things that goes into that.”
One of the key issues is Fields’ propensity to take too long to throw. Against the Broncos’ swarming defense, that was exacerbated.
“It wasn’t good enough and it starts with me,” Fields said after the game. “I’ve got to get the ball out. They’ve got a good D-line. They got to the backfield fast. Once you get in that rhythm, you’ve got to go one, two, get the hell up out of there.”
Glenn acknowledged that, but added that other things contributed, such as faulty protection by the offensive line and the inability of receivers to get open.
“But again, Justin has to get those balls out,” Glenn said. “And even when we do have these shot plays that we tried to get, I mean you’ve just got to give your guys a chance.”
Kicking game. Kicker Nick Folk and punter Austin McNamara have been bright spots. The 40-year-old Folk is 12 for 12 on field goals, including three Sunday, and made all seven of his extra points. McNamara, in his first NFL season, has been solid with his distance and hang time flipping the field consistently.
In-game decisions. In addition to the players, Glenn and his staff also have made costly errors.
Instead of the puzzling decision Sunday to let the clock run out before halftime on fourth down to make sure Denver didn’t get the ball back with some time left and good field position, Glenn acknowledged Monday he would’ve let it get to about five seconds before taking a shot at a Hail Mary.
“That’s a mistake that I made,” Glenn said, “and I hold myself accountable for that.”
CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Acquired from Tennessee last month, the 2024 fifth-rounder out of Louisville forced a fumble that resulted in New York’s first takeaway of the season and he had six total tackles and a tackle for loss in his second game with the Jets.
OC Tanner Engstrand. The first-year offensive coordinator was actually praised by Glenn for sticking to the game plan against Denver, which raised some eyebrows. But Engstrand’s lack of adjustments in the loss were glaring — particularly not trying to take advantage of Fields’ running ability or using running back Breece Hall, who wasn’t targeted once, in the passing game.
Glenn confirmed star WR Garrett Wilson is dealing with a knee issue but wouldn’t speculate if it could result in missed time. Wilson is having tests on what ESPN reported was an injured knee ligament. … LB Cam Jones and CB Qwan’tez Stiggers both have hip injuries.
0-6 — The Jets are the fourth team in NFL history to start a season 0-6 despite leading in at least three of those games in the fourth quarter, according to Sportradar, joining the 2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1955 Detroit Lions and 1953 Chicago Cardinals.
The Jets return home to play Carolina on Sunday, looking to avoid the third 0-7 start in franchise history and first since 2020.
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