November 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nThe decision should not come as a surprise, considering how poorly Fields has played in recent weeks. He has thrown for 120 or fewer yards in four of the last five games, and in three of those games, he threw for less than 55 passing yards. At one point in a 27-14 loss to the Patriots, a Fields pass deflected off the back of a Jets offensive lineman\u2019s helmet and fell incomplete. And with Fields at the helm, the Jets have put together far and away the worst passing offense in the NFL. They rank last in passing yards per game (139.9), 26th in passing touchdowns (11), 24th in completion percentage (62.5) and 29th in EPA per dropback.<\/p>\n
Fields was expected to be benched for Taylor ahead of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8, but Taylor suffered a knee injury in practice that rendered him unable to take all the reps or travel with the team that week. Coincidentally, Fields had his second-best game of the season in a win in Cincinnati. Fields\u2019 performance allowed him to keep the starting job, though in the ensuing weeks, Glenn contentiously refused to answer any questions about who would be the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n
That tune changed the morning after the Jets lost to the Patriots, when Glenn had a chance to watch Fields\u2019 performance against New England on film.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to get better at\u201d passing the ball, Glenn said. \u201cWe got to get a lot better in the passing game. Listen, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s any surprise to anybody. But when you look at that game, again, I thought he did some good things as far as getting the ball out to these guys, but I thought he did some things he has to improve, because there were some open guys that we missed, and he would tell you that. That\u2019s no surprise. But man, there were some passes in that game I thought that we had chances to make some big plays on, and we didn\u2019t finish those. So, it\u2019s a combination of both those. I thought the protection was pretty good, for the most part. So now, it\u2019s Justin completing those passes and the guys that have the chances to make those plays, they have to go out there and make those plays too.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t exactly a ringing endorsement. And so now the Jets will turn to Taylor, the 36-year-old veteran who is beloved by teammates in the locker room. He started against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3 when Fields was out with a concussion and completed 26 of 36 passes for 197 yards, two touchdowns and one interception before he returned to the bench.<\/p>\n
Now the question is whether the Jets will make Fields the No. 2 quarterback behind Taylor or demote him to third string. There is some precedent for that: When the Jets benched Zach Wilson in 2022, they made him third string, promoted Mike White to starter and made Joe Flacco the backup, with the idea being it would allow Wilson to practice and develop without the threat of having to play again. Fields is under contract for next season with $10 million guaranteed, and if the Jets do decide to bring him back \u2014 no guarantee \u2014 it might benefit him to get some coaching behind the scenes without actually playing.<\/p>\n
Plus, the Jets might be smart to at least see what they have in undrafted rookie Brady Cook, currently on the practice squad. Cook probably isn\u2019t a long-term starting option, but if he has to play this season, perhaps he can show enough promise to return in 2026 as a potential backup option.<\/p>\n