Steve Young thinks Justin Fields needs to take accountability for his performance with the New York Jets. He also thinks Woody Johnson should do the same.
The former ESPN analyst appeared on Pardon the Interruption this week and didn’t hold back when asked about Johnson’s recent criticism of Fields, the Jets’ struggling quarterback who’s likely getting benched this week after the owner publicly blamed him for the team’s 0-7 start.
“If I’m Justin Fields, the quarterback has to stay 100 percent accountable, despite how irritating that comment would’ve been to me,” Young said. “That’s who you are.”
“Now, can I comment as the quarterback watching this? And I would say to the equity owner of the team, that rating that your quarterback has, has been repeated over and over and over again,” the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback continued. “You keep having head coaches go around, and around, and around; general managers around and around and around. I think there’s got to be a time when he says that comment, that the vulnerability to actually hear yourself say, ‘Oh my gosh, another really talented quarterback has a terrible rating on my watch. What can I do differently? What can I bring — this new blood — to this situation that seems to be going around and around and around and around.'”
Steve Young: New York Jets and QBs
Former HOF Dual threat QB Steve Young speaks the absolute truth of the New York Jets and Justin Fields.
Sam Darnold 13-25 as a Jet
Aaron Rodgers 6-12 as a Jet
Geno Smith 12-21 as a Jet
1. Corrupt micromanaging owner with bad character… pic.twitter.com/atIbmQUMgC
— Black Ditka (@LostHebrew_Dre) October 23, 2025
Young loosely referenced the pattern that’s defined the Jets for years. Sam Darnold went 13-25 as a Jet, got released, and needed four years bouncing between backup roles before making the Pro Bowl with Minnesota. Geno Smith went 12-21 with the Jets, got cut, spent years as a backup in Seattle before finally getting another shot and making two Pro Bowls. Aaron Rodgers went 6-12 in New York after four straight MVP-caliber seasons in Green Bay. Fields is currently 0-7 with a 91.1 passer rating after signing a two-year deal worth $30 million guaranteed.
The point isn’t that these quarterbacks left and immediately succeeded. The point is the Jets didn’t have the infrastructure in place to develop any of them.
“People always say they’d love to be king for a day; I’d love to run the Jets for the day, or own the Jets,” said Young. “And make it great for quarterbacks. Now, wouldn’t that be a miracle in today’s NFL that you’d make it great for quarterbacks? Isn’t that a great idea?”
Young’s comments came one day after NFL owners approved ESPN’s $145 million deal to acquire NFL Network and NFL Media. The acquisition — which still requires regulatory approval — raised questions about whether ESPN talent would pull punches when covering ownership decisions once the network becomes a direct business partner with the league.
Young, a frequent ESPN guest who left his full-time analyst role in 2023, apparently didn’t get that memo.
And his willingness to deliver it publicly might be new, but the criticism itself isn’t. PTI could have run that same segment 10 years ago, and it would’ve been just as accurate. Johnson has owned the Jets since 2000. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2010. The organization has cycled through head coaches and general managers while quarterbacks arrive with potential and leave as cautionary tales.
Johnson made his feelings about Fields clear Tuesday at the NFL’s annual league meeting in New York. He blamed Fields for the Jets’ offensive struggles while praising head coach Aaron Glenn, who’s 0-7 in his first season.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got,” Johnson said. “He has the ability, but something just is not jiving. But if you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you’re going to similar results if you go across the league. You have to play consistently at that position. If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.”
Fields has been bad. The Jets have scored 17 points in their last two games combined. Fields completed just 15 passes for 91 yards during that stretch. But Glenn has also publicly defended Fields while looking worse as a rookie head coach, struggling both on the sideline and at the podium with the New York media. Johnson praised Glenn anyway while making Fields the fall guy.
This isn’t Young’s first time watching the Jets blame their quarterback. He got into it with Booger McFarland on Monday Night Countdown in 2022 after McFarland said Wilson couldn’t accept accountability because he “grew up with a lot of money.” Young defended Wilson then, and defended him again in 2023 on The Michael Kay Show, saying the Jets failed him by taking a “tough love” approach when Wilson needed a “big brother” and mentor instead. Young later admitted he was wrong about Wilson, who went 12-21 as a starter before getting traded to Denver.
But Young’s main point about the Jets organization hasn’t changed. The problem isn’t just the quarterbacks who fail. It’s the organization that consistently fails them.
At some point, the owner needs to ask himself why every quarterback who comes through New York ends up with a terrible rating. The answer, according to Young and countless others, requires looking in the mirror, not just pointing at the guy under center.