CINCINNATI – The Jets’ already-strange quarterback situation took the most awkward turn possible on Saturday, when backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was ruled out of Sunday’s matchup with the Bengals with an injured knee, the team announced on Saturday.
That means Justin Fields is back as the starting quarterback, just days after owner Woody Johnson publicly ripped him for his poor play.
For any other team it would be a complete nightmare, but for the Jets it’s just another log on the bonfire of a disastrous season.
Johnson’s comments on Tuesday – when he seemed to blame Fields for the Jets’ 0-7 start, bemoaned his poor stats, and quipped “if we can complete a pass, it would look good” – were already an unforced error, creating an unnecessary storyline for coach Aaron Glenn and his team to deal with after spending most of October as the NFL’s only winless team.
But it seemed like a distraction the Jets would have to deal with down the road, because early in the week Taylor was expected to be named the team’s starting quarterback. But on Wednesday, Glenn said that Taylor was day-to-day with a knee injury, opening the door for Fields to have to suit up just five days after Johnson torched him.
And, of course, the most awkward situation happened when the Jets said that Taylor won’t even travel to Cincinnati. The New York Post first reported that Taylor was out.
Sunday is already a less than ideal matchup for a struggling Jets team as they face former quarterback Joe Flacco, who was terrible in his time with the Jets, which ended in 2022. Now he’s in the midst of a resurgence at age 40 with the Browns and Bengals and has the chance to send his former team’s season to a new low.
Fields said he wasn’t aware of and wasn’t bothered by the owner’s comments, but it’s hard to imagine they won’t be in the back of his mind after a week of deafening noise surrounding the quarterback. Fields said he’s had to insist to family members and friends that he is doing fine amid the storm.
And Fields, who was benched at halftime of last week’s loss to the Panthers, will have to overcome more than all the doubts and noise. He’ll be trying to jumpstart a Jets’ offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 5 without his top two receivers. Garrett Wilson was ruled out on Friday for the second straight week and Josh Reynolds was ruled out by the Jets on Saturday.
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