The New York Jets are calling an audible at the line of scrimmage.
Head coach Aaron Glenn revealed that backup quarterback Justin Fields was ruled out this week with a knee injury. That means rookie passer Brady Cook will make his NFL debut as the No. 2 behind veteran Tyrod Taylor.
“Justin had some knee soreness in practice on Wednesday. We limited him on Thursday, and today he will be out. He is going to be out for the game, alright, and we’ll see how he progresses going into next week for him to be ready for that. So Brady Cook will be our backup quarterback, and we’ll be ready to go,” Coach Glenn explained on Friday, December 5.
“Yeah, it popped up in practice on Wednesday. He felt sore, he wanted to go practice on Thursday, we limited him on Thursday, and then as we looked at him — ah, it was something that we wanted to get to rest it and make sure we get it right,” Coach Glenn added on the Fields injury.
Glenn Speaks on Cook’s Development Behind the Scenes
“Yeah, his improvement, and he is a very fiery guy. The one thing that we do quite a bit in practice is we have a number of competition periods. You see exactly how he goes about his business when his time comes up to really be in that situation and to compete. He looks forward to it. He always asks when those opportunities are gonna come for him to be able to get a chance to do it, and we make sure that we give him those reps. He is a very competitive guy, he is going to be a quarterback in this league, I do know that — I can’t tell you when, but he will be a quarterback in this league,” Coach Glenn said emphatically.
Well, that could come on Sunday.
Cook won’t start in the game, but he is now just one play away from walking onto that field.
“Taylor has battled durability issues throughout his career, so the injury risk is real. In recent years, he has missed time because of broken ribs (2023), a concussion (2022), left wrist (2021), hamstring (2021), and a punctured lung (2020),” ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote back in September of 2025.
This season alone, he had offseason knee surgery. Taylor was able to recover and be ready for his role as the backup QB in Week 1, but he reaggravated that knee injury in the Week 7 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Taking a Look at Cook’s Success in College and in the Preseason
The undrafted free agent out of Missouri appeared in all three preseason games for the Jets. He completed 66% of his passes, going 25-for-38, for 235 passing yards, and finished with one passing touchdown and one interception.
Cook played five years at Missouri. He appeared in 47 games during that time. Cook completed 65.9% of his passes for 9,251 passing yards, and he had a 50 touchdown to 15 interception ratio.
On the ground in his collegiate career, Cook finished with 1,262 rushing yards, averaged 3.4 yards per carry, and scored 21 times.
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