New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn said Wednesday that he knows who will start at quarterback Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals but was not announcing his decision so as not to give his opponent a competitive advantage.
Perhaps complicating the matter is that Tyrod Taylor has a knee injury and is day-to-day, according to Glenn. Taylor replaced struggling starter Justin Fields in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Afterward, Glenn said he was considering a change and that he would consult with people inside and outside the organization for input.
On Tuesday, Jets owner Woody Johnson criticized Fields’ play while defending Glenn, with the Jets being the NFL’s only winless team at 0-7, saying it’s hard for the first-year coach to win “when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving. … You have to play consistently at that position, and that’s what we’re going to try to do for the remainder of the season.”
Johnson, who was speaking from the NFL’s fall meeting in New York, said the quarterback decision was “completely up to” Glenn.
In six starts, Fields has posted a career-low 32.1 Total QBR, ranking 31st out of 33 qualified passers. He played one of the best games of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, but his performance regressed in recent weeks. The Jets have only seven touchdowns in the past six games, none in the first half.
For months, Glenn had been steadfast in his support of Fields, even after minus-10 net passing yards in a Week 6 loss to the Denver Broncos. The first crack in the coach’s confidence came Sunday, when he pulled Fields with the Jets trailing 10-3. Fields, 26, completed only 6 of 12 passes for 46 yards in the first half, taking three sacks.
Taylor, 36, has a 28-29-1 record as a starter. He started Week 3 for the Jets, when Fields was sidelined with a concussion. In seven-plus quarters of action, Taylor is 43-of-69 for 379 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Jets eventually lost 13-6, with Taylor throwing two interceptions in the second half.
Rich Eisen: It’s a total disaster for Justin Fields and the Jets (2:19)Rich Eisen goes into detail about the rough start to the season for Justin Fields and the Jets. (2:19)