New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields participated in 7-on-7 drills at training camp Saturday, two days after being carted from the field with a dislocated toe.
Fields threw passes during quarterback positional drills and then again in a session with wide receivers, including tossing a perfectly placed deep ball to Tyler Johnson for a big gain that drew cheers from the fans in the stands.
Fields didn’t participate in team drills and will continue to be evaluated on a daily basis.
“Just trying to ease him in,” coach Aaron Glenn said.
The Jets have their first day off from practice Sunday.
“I thought he did a good job in 7-on-7s,” Glenn said of Fields. “And the thing is, he has a ways to go until we get him out there, and we’re going to make sure we keep the process going, keep the protocol going to make sure he’s ready.”
Fields sent fans and social media into a frenzy Thursday when he dislocated a toe on his right foot early in practice. He was carted from the field to the facility, where he had multiple tests before the team announced the diagnosis — relieving fears that it could be an even more significant injury.
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Fields watched practice Friday from the sideline while wearing his helmet but had progressed enough Saturday to take part in some of the practice.
Glenn didn’t think Fields, expected to be the starter in his first season with the Jets, would fall behind because of the injury.
“He’s going to be just fine,” the coach said. “He missed one day. He’s been in meetings, so he’s going to be just fine.”
Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor continues to lead the offense during team drills while Fields is sidelined.
Tackling the issues
While Fields got big cheers when he participated in practice, an addition to the drills got the fans — and players — fired up.
Glenn ran a tackling drill in which an offensive player goes 1-on-1 against a defensive player. The offensive player tries to get around the defensive player, who attempts to stop him in his tracks by wrapping him up.
It wasn’t full tackling — there are no pads yet — but it’s something Glenn started in organized team activities and brought with him from his coaching days in Detroit.
“I modified it a little bit to fit the way that I wanted it to go,” he said. “I love the drill. It gets the players excited. You get a chance to teach, and you get a chance to work on the things that you have to work on to be good as far as tackling and also, offensively, just alluding guys in space.”
The Jets’ defense was plagued at times last season by missing open-field tackles. The loudest cheers Saturday came when cornerback Sauce Gardner squared up with wide receiver Garrett Wilson and forced him out of bounds as the defense celebrated wildly.
“Man, this league is about making open-field tackles,” Glenn said. “I think we all know it’s a spacious league right now. So, the more you can make tackles in space, the better we are going to be as a team.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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