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Justin Fields has a lot on his plate.
He has to learn his third different offense in three years – from Chicago to Pittsburgh to the New York Jets.
That is not easy and not ideal for quarterbacks, especially young ones.
It’s always best to be in one system for a long time and for it to become rote to you.
For instance, Tom Brady was in the same system for most of his career in New England, same with Peyton Manning in Indianapolis.
Three more modern examples – Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, Josh Allen in Buffalo and Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.
Look at the results for those cats. Now, obviously, a part of that is their ability, but also, knowing the system like the back of your hand, and not having a new playbook, as thick as “War and Peace,” thrown at you every year, is helpful to any QB.
So now Fields is up to his eyeballs learning the playbook/scheme of new Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand.
He needs to focus on football, football, and more football.
Saw this video on the internet of Jets players calling their mothers to wish them a “Happy Mother’s Day.”
The players would call their mother, and the conversation was videotaped—it featured the likes of cornerback Michael Carter, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, and guard John Simpson.
It was a nice Mother’s Day feature – the back-and-forth between Carter, Sherwood and Simpson and their mothers.
Another player they did it with was Fields.
Look, I don’t know Fields. Have not been around him yet. I will get a feel for him once there is daily access in the summer and during the season.
But in his video chat with his mother, he didn’t seem very enthused about doing it.
I could be wrong. You can watch it for yourself. Maybe he’s just a low-key cat and this is his demeanor.
Don’t get the wrong idea, he was very kind and loving to his mother, Gina Tobey, in their phone chat on camera, but he didn’t seem thrilled about doing it.
I could be totally wrong, but it’s just one man’s take.
Look, he’s with a new organization that just paid him a lot of money, so he’s going to be cooperative with what is requested of him.
But to me, and I could be totally wrong, I think it would be best to leave him alone with stuff like this.
He has a herculean task ahead of him, not only learning a new offense and getting on the same page with new teammates, but also trying to take his processing to the next level. We know he can run like a deer and has a rocket arm to make all the throws, but he needs to improve at going through his progressions, throwing with anticipation, manipulating defensive backs with his eyes, and so forth.
So when it comes to making videos like this, let others do it – Carter, Sherwood and Simpson – that’s fine.
But with Fields, he just needs to make the main thing the main thing right now.
Man, does this guy have a lot on his plate right now or what?
Holy cow.
Aaron Glenn, who is trying to fix the Jets culture, must tell people in the building – let Fields just focus on football.
No frivolous requests that have nothing to do with him improving as a QB.
May 14, 2025.
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