The New York Jets suffered another disappointing loss on Sunday, falling to the NFC’s Carolina Panthers, 13-6. This time, Justin Fields was only on the field for part of the game and ultimately watched his team lose from the sidelines.
That’s because head coach Aaron Glenn decided to bench the starting quarterback and replace him with backup Tyrod Taylor to see if that might improve the team’s chances. It didn’t, and after the game, reporters talked to Fields about getting benched.
Asked if he was surprised by the coach’s decision, Fields admitted “a little bit,” but also understood that his coach “wanted to see if there was a spark” with Taylor at quarterback.
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“Was it warranted? Eh. We all have our different opinions. I was like, threw 11 or 12 passes in the first half. I had like 40-something or 50 yards. Like I said, it’s not my decision. I’m here to be the best teammate I can be, be the best person I can be. So like I said, it’s not up to me. I wish things would’ve went a little bit different,” he told reporters.
According to Fields, he plans to continue showing up for the team and trying to be “a light in this world” no matter what decisions his team makes.
The Jets trailed for the entire game, with the Panthers scoring 10 on them in the first half. Carolina responded with a field goal, but only managed one more in the second half, while the Panthers also added another field goal to their total to take the win.
Fields completed six of the 12 passes he attempted for 46 yards in the first half, which was similar to last week’s dismal output against the Denver Broncos in London. That game was a 13-11 finish in favor of the Broncos.
In this week’s game, Fields was sacked three times for a loss of 21 yards during his time on the field. After coming in to replace Fields against the Panthers, Taylor finished with 126 passing yards and two interceptions on 10-of-22 completed passes.
After their loss to the Broncos last week, Jets coach Aaron Glenn shut down a reporter attempting to ask if he might consider benching Fields for the poor performance.
“I’m not ready to sit here and say what’s going to happen next week with our quarterback. I would say this: That’s something I have to look at,” he said after their loss to the Panthers.
The winless Jets will play Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals on the road next, with their starting quarterback to be decided sometime in the coming week.
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