For the third time in four seasons, the Jets will need to turn to their backup quarterback for a start before October even arrives.
Justin Fields has been ruled out for the Jets’ game Sunday after sustaining a concussion during their Week 2 loss, head coach Aaron Glenn said before practice Wednesday — meaning that Tyrod Taylor will make his first start since 2023 when Gang Green faces the Buccaneers in Tampa.
Fields is currently in the league’s concussion protocol, but when asked if the quick decision on his status revolved around Fields not progressing in the five steps of the protocol, Glenn said, “Well I don’t want to say that. I just know how these things are, and just to my knowledge, this week, he’ll be out.”
Fields exited Sunday’s game early after completing just 3 of 11 passes for 27 yards and taking a step back following an impressive Jets debut. On a third-and-10 early in the fourth quarter, he was pursued by Bills defensive end Joey Bosa and hit his head on the MetLife Stadium at the end of the play. Fields eventually went back to the locker room as Taylor entered to orchestrate the final two drives.
So with Gang Green trying to avoid an 0-3 start, Taylor — who has started 59 regular-season and playoff games across his 15-year career — will make his first start since filling in five times in 2023 with the Giants.
“There’s an element within him that we also have in Justin that I like a lot,” Glenn said of Taylor, “and the fact that he’s been in this league for a long time, there’s no coverage, there’s no pressure that he hasn’t seen. So that’s why I have confidence in him, and he’s a very studious person, good athlete — again, been around this league for a long time. There’s no better player that you want as a backup quarterback than him at this point in time.”
Taylor appeared in two games for the Jets in 2024 as the backup to Aaron Rodgers and settled into the backup role again after Fields inked his two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason, but he missed a chunk of time in training camp as well as the entire preseason after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in August.
“He has over 14 years of reps,” Glenn said, “so he’s not new to this.”
Fields’ absence will mark the latest instance of the Jets being forced to pivot to their backup quarterback early in the season, too. Zach Wilson suffered a torn meniscus and bone bruise in his right knee during a 2022 preseason game that kept him out for the first three games. Then, Rodgers infamously tore his Achilles just four offensive snaps into the 2023 season, requiring Wilson to step back into the starting role.
And now, for one week, Taylor will be tasked with trying to stabilize an offense that flashed potential in Week 1 when it compiled 394 yards and then produced plenty of reasons to worry during a 154-yard dud one week later.
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