Content available exclusively for subscribers
ESPN headline – “Why Justin Fields is perfect fit for the Jets’ new direction.”
Why?
“The stated goal of the organization, articulated recently by first-year coach Aaron Glenn, is to move in silence,” wrote ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “In that case, the Jets may have found their ideal quarterback in Justin Fields, who, unlike his predecessor, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have a weekly national TV platform to spew his thoughts on all things football (and whatever else strikes his fancy). He also doesn’t have a Netflix docuseries that explores the inner workings of his own being. Personality-wise, Fields is about as far away from Rodgers as two starting quarterbacks could be. And that’s fine by the Jets.”
I just don’t get all this focus on body language and personality with Fields the last few weeks.
What the heck does any of that stuff have to do with going through progressions, making the right checks at the line, throwing with anticipation, manipulating safeties with your eyes, and being a full field-reader, all things Rodgers was very good at, and stuff that Fields needs work on?
To act like his demeanor and body language are going to be the panacea for the Jets QB position seems like fool’s gold.
Look, Fields could turn out to be great for the Jets in the fall. I’m not writing him off, but spare me with this “breath of fresh air compared to Rodgers” stuff.
First of all, not many players in the locker room had an issue with Rodgers.
Ask Quinnen Williams.
Could Rodgers be a distraction at times with some of his words, perhaps, but I really don’t think that stuff is the reason the Jets went 5-12.
It think it was more bad coaching (those Indy and Arizona games where they made Anthony Richardson and Kyler Murray look like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes still blow me away), bad offensive line play (Tyron Smith hit a wall as a player and this really hurt the Jets a lot over the first half of the season – look at the film) and the run defense was horrendous and I mean horrendous.
I’m not totally exonerating Rodgers, but to me, these other factors were ahead of his perceived shortcomings on the list of Jets issues last year, at least if you want to be objective. If some of those other things were better, I doubt they would have gone 5-12.
“While [Rodgers] infused the franchise with hope and confidence — his Hall of Fame résumé commanded the respect of teammates — Rodgers was so ubiquitous that he overshadowed the team. That doesn’t seem like it will happen with Fields,” Cimini wrote.
Great. That doesn’t happen with Fields, but how is he on hot-reads against the blitz, something Rodgers was very good at? We shall see.
“There’s so much more to this job than operating a huddle and throwing passes,” Cimini wrote. “You’re the face of a franchise that hasn’t reached the Super Bowl in more than a half-century and is often portrayed as a dysfunctional mess. The quarterback, with spoken words and subtle body language, can create or fuel a negative narrative. The Monday-to-Saturday pressure is real, and it takes a special person to navigate it.”
So Fields will navigate Monday-Saturday making less waves, but how will he do on Sunday? Over his first four years in the league, he is 14-30 on game day as a starter.
His fortunes could change with the Jets. He is only 26 and maybe the lightbulb truly comes on this year for Fields, like it did for Sam Darnold at 27 last year in Minnesota.
Fields is a physically gifted QB with a howitzer arm and world-class speed. The Jets think he can shine in their new system. Perhaps they are right. We will see.
But can we please stop with all this focus on his body language and persona?
Geez.
This isn’t a personality contest.
May 16, 2025
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Monday.
