Jets head coach Aaron Glenn essentially played defense against his own team’s owner Wednesday, trying to deflect blame that had been aimed toward Justin Fields.
Fields did his best not to respond at all.
“I didn’t see any comment,” Fields said after practice. “Y’all know I’m not on social media at all.”
The comments he allegedly did not hear or read: Woody Johnson blamed his team’s 0-7 start on a starting quarterback who has disappointed; who has made it “hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got,” Johnson said; who has held back an offense for which, “if we could just complete a pass, it would look good,” Johnson said.
Though Glenn said he referenced Johnson’s comments during a team meeting, Fields pleaded ignorance when asked about them.
When informed of the gist of Johnson’s comments, Fields responded with a verbal shrug.
“It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t,” said Fields, who is preparing as if he will start Sunday in Cincinnati, though Glenn has declined to reveal the starter. “Of course, everybody knows I need to play better. We need to play better as a team. Of course, no matter how the offense does as a unit, I’m going to get the blame. I understand that. It’s just what comes with the job.”
Struggling quarterbacks receive plenty of blame, but rarely publicly from their team’s owner. Fields is regarding Johnson’s opinion like any other external opinion.
He does not anticipate meeting with Johnson.
“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields said. “Like I said, it’s not going to make me play better. It’s not going to give me more confidence on the field. I don’t think there’s necessarily a point in talking about that.”
Fields said he does not have much of a relationship with Johnson, who landed Fields on a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason. If benched — as he was in the second half in last Sunday’s loss, and it is possible Tyrod Taylor gets the nod Sunday — there would be questions about Fields’ future in New York.
Would the 26-year-old request a trade if phased out?
“I don’t like answering those questions — those, quote-unquote, what-if questions,” Fields said. “I’m not going to do that because that’s not going to do anything for me, that’s not going to do anything for the team. … The biggest focus right now is this game on Sunday.”
Linebacker Quincy Williams, who has been out since Week 3 with a shoulder injury, was designated to return from injured reserve and was a full practice participant.
Also fully practicing was cornerback Michael Carter II, who was cleared from the concussion protocol.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson (knee), who missed the first game of his career Sunday after injuring his knee the previous week, did not practice.
The rest of the injury report: Limited were running back Breece Hall (knee), defensive end Jermaine Johnson II (ankle) and cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers (hip); not practicing were cornerback Sauce Gardner (concussion), linebacker Cam Jones (hip), running back Kene Nwangwu (concussion), tight end Stone Smartt (quad) and defensive lineman Jay Tufele.
The Jets signed defensive back JT Woods to their practice squad.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
