It is a big story, but not a big . . .

It’s a big story, but it’s not a big deal.

That is the best way to sum up the toe injury to Jets starting QB Justin Fields at Thursday’s practice.

Of course it’s going to be huge news on sports shows, but if you put the news under the microscope, it’s not earth-shattering for the Jets.

“I think the most important part is, if anything does happen to Justin, I don’t think there’s any drop-off as far as what we want to do when it comes to play,” Aaron Glenn said.

And you could argue there isn’t.

The team’s backup QB, Tyrod Taylor, has a 28-28-1 lifetime record as an NFL starter.

Fields is 14-30, so you would need to be a heck of a debater to make the point that this is a downgrade.

But it doesn’t sound like Fields is going to miss any regular-season games based on these two announcements.

“Source: Jets QB Justin Fields, carted off with a toe injury from getting stepped on from practice, suffered a dislocated toe. No fracture and not the big toe,” tweeted NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. 

“All vibes surrounding the Jets QB are he’ll be in line to start Week 1 against the Steelers,” tweeted NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo.

Fields is represented by agent David Mulugheta.

So based on those two big announcements, Fields should be fine, sooner rather than later.

And that is great. Whether you are an objective reporter or not, nobody wants anybody to get hurt

But objectively speaking, while some will say it’s a big deal that the Jets’ “starting” QB got hurt today, let’s not forget he was anointed the starter; he didn’t earn the job in a QB competition.

That’s not a shot at the player, just the reality of the situation.

Jets GM Darren Mougey said at the NFL Owners’ Meeting on March 30: “We believe Justin is the starter. We believe in Justin – we believe we can win with Justin. So, we’re excited about Justin.”

He was anointed the starter over Taylor – he didn’t earn the job in a QB battle.

So when you lose a player, who was given the starting job without a competition, who has a 14-30 lifetime record, over another player in the QB room who is 28-28-1, if the guy who is 14-30 gets hurt, is the sky falling?

Once again, not looking for anyone to get hurt, but this isn’t Patrick Mahomes getting hurt, and you are turning to Gardner Minshew.

That isn’t what this is.

The worst part of this injury for the Jets is the reps that Fields will lose while he’s out.

While he’s a fifth-year NFL player with 44 career starts, he’s still a developmental quarterback who needs all the reps in practice he can get to help him mature as a processor and progression reader.

So the missed practice reps will be bad for him and the Jets offense since he is the starter, regardless of how he got the job.

Remember, this is a new offense for him. He needs the reps not only to get on the same page with his receivers and improve his progression scans, but also to get more comfortable in his new playbook.

That is the biggest problem this injury causes.

But as far as Taylor taking over at QB, for however long, that is probably not a big deal.

Going from 14-30 to 28-28-1 isn’t a dropoff.

July 24, 2025

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