The New York Jets have seen enough of Justin Fields.
Tyrod Taylor will start for the Jets in their Week 12 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens and will send Fields to the bench, The Athletic reported Monday.
The move from Jets head coach Aaron Glenn came on the heels of another unimpressive performance from Fields, who has started all but one game of New York’s 2-8 season. Fields completed 15 of 26 passes for 116 yards in the Jets’ 27-14 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday.
Glenn said last week he would evaluate all positions over the weekend, leaving the door open for a change at quarterback. And he decided to make the switch to Taylor, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team didn’t announce the move.
Glenn, who was not scheduled to speak to reporters again until Wednesday, has been tight-lipped on his quarterback situation and refused the last few weeks to announce who his starter would be.
It appeared likely the 36-year-old Taylor would take over under center against Cincinnati on Oct. 26, but the veteran backup was ruled out with a knee injury and didn’t travel with the team. Instead, Fields thrived after what he said was an “emotional” week that included owner Woody Johnson publicly criticizing him, leading the Jets to their first win of the season, 39-38 against the Bengals.
Fields was 21 of 32 for 244 yards and a touchdown in that victory, along with 31 yards on 11 rushes. He also threw a pass and had a run for 2-point conversions. The Jets hoped that was a turning point-type game for Fields.
But the struggles reappeared in the next two games — and the calls from frustrated fans to bench Fields grew louder. Glenn said last Friday that Fields did some good things at New England but also acknowledged he missed a few opportunities to make plays.
“I think you hear that quite a bit when you get these quarterback changes is, ‘Man, I’m trying to get a spark for the team,’” Glenn said. “But to me, it’s more or less, man, I’m trying to make the best decision to give our guys a chance to win because to me, a spark is really a short-term deal. And I don’t know if this is what other coaches’ decisions are, but, man, I want to make a decision to give us a chance to win.”
Fields has completed 62.7% of his passes for 1,259 yards, seven touchdowns and an interception to go with 383 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns this season. While Fields has a strong touchdown-to-interception ratio, he ranks toward the bottom of the league in several passing stats. His 139.9 passing yards per game is the second-worst among quarterbacks who’ve started at least five games. His 6.2 yards per attempt is the sixth-worst among the same group of quarterbacks.
With Fields not providing much in the passing game, the Jets’ offense has been among the league’s worst this season. They’re 29th in yards and 25th in scoring this season.
New York’s decision to bench Fields could be a sign of what’s to come this offseason. The Jets gave Fields a two-year, $40 million deal over the offseason, guaranteeing him $30 million of his contract. However, as the Jets were the last team to get a win this season, they quickly went into rebuild mode ahead of the trade deadline. They shipped out cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams earlier in November, arming the Jets with five first-round picks over the next two drafts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
