Leading into the New York Jets’ Week 8 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Aaron Glenn declined to name his starting quarterback.
Two weeks later, with the Jets coming out of their bye, he has decided to maintain the ambiguity surrounding New York’s quarterback situation and is leaving it up in the air who will be under center when the Cleveland Browns come to town on Sunday.
Justin Fields, who had been publicly maligned by owner Woody Johnson at October’s NFL owners’ meetings, ended up getting the start against the Bengals, despite his porous play in Weeks 6 and 7.
Tyrod Taylor was assumed to be the trigger man, but a knee injury revealed late in the week left the veteran quarterback unable to travel with the team to Ohio.
Now, Glenn is withholding the starting quarterback from the media once again, and they grilled him at his first press conference after the bye week over it.
New York Media Grills Aaron Glenn Over QB Decision
After refusing to answer who would be the starting quarterback for the New York Jets’ matchup with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, reporters tried to dig deeper into Glenn’s decision.
“That’ll be between me and the player…I don’t understand why you guys keep doing it [asking about starting quarterback], it’s really getting hilarious too, because you guys keep asking the same question and I keep giving you the same answer,” Glenn said to the beat.
ESPN’s Jets insider, Rich Cimini, tried to get Glenn to bite on a question about a quarterback’s confidence, asking if it would give the player a boost to have a public endorsement of his capabilities.
Once again, the first-time head coach refused to give an inch.
“It helps the quarterback’s confidence when the player and the coach talk and they know who the guy is. Not that I’m telling it to you guys. That has nothing to do with the player’s confidence.”
Glenn continues to cite a competitive advantage as the reason why he won’t publicly name his starting quarterback, a bit of gamesmanship from the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator.
So, Who Is More Likely to Start on Sunday?
In reality, the odds are that the New York Jets will stick with Fields for at least another week.
The rumblings of a benching have been going on for almost a month now, with the former Ohio State star’s play severely lacking.
Before New York took on the Cincinnati Bengals, Fields had failed to eclipse more than 50 yards passing in his previous two starts, struggling mightily against the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
Before their first-half touchdown in Cincinnati, the Jets had failed to score a touchdown in the first or second quarter since Week 1, which obviously reflects poorly on the starting quarterback.
But, after a reinvigorating outing against the Bengals, where he completed 65.6% of his passes and threw for 244 yards, Fields figures to get another chance to show he can continue operating the Jets offense at a high level.
If the former Chicago Bear struggles again, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Glenn turn to his veteran quarterback, Taylor, just as he did in the second half against the Panthers in Week 7.
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