Glenn defends Justin Fields despite Jets net pass -10 yards

It was the worst passing performance in New York Jets history, yet the focal point of the disaster — quarterback Justin Fields — received a strong vote of confidence from coach Aaron Glenn, who chided a reporter for asking if he would consider changing his quarterback.

“What kind of question is this?” Glenn said after the Jets fell to 0-6 with a 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The coach added: “There are players who played bad matches.” “That doesn’t mean you should just sit with them. Come on, you know better than that.”

It wasn’t just a bad game. It was bad all the time.

Then, star receiver Garrett Wilson, who made just three catches for 13 yards, questioned the play. To make matters worse, Wilson, the team’s best player, suffered a ligament injury in his knee, a source told ESPN. An MRI will be performed upon his return to New Jersey.

The NFL’s only winless team finished with a franchise-low 10 net yards receiving, the worst by any team in nearly three decades. The San Diego Chargers scored just under 19 yards on September 20, 1998 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Fields completed 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards, losing 55 yards on nine sacks, leading to a negative net total. Several factors contributed to the futility, including a conservative style of play by offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand and occasional pass protection breakdowns.

“The passing game was nonexistent,” Glenn said.

Fields was pressured on 14 of 29 dropbacks (48%), according to NFL Next Gen Stats, but much of that was the result of him holding the ball too long in the pocket. Sometimes, he didn’t see open receivers.

This was not a new trend. Last week, he was sacked five times in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

“I understand where you guys are trying to take this, but listen,” Glenn said when asked about Fields’ job situation. “There are a number of other players who have to improve their game as well, so I don’t want to sit there and dump it all on Justin.

“You can’t sit there and say, ‘Man, we’re going to bench him, because I thought he played well in some other games.’ So I don’t look at this as just, ‘Man, he had a bad game, we’re going to bench him.’ I don’t see it that way.”

The worst sequence came at the end of the first half, when the Jets had a fourth-and-1 at the 47-yard line and didn’t run another play despite having 32 seconds on the clock. The offense showed no urgency on the drive, which consisted of 10 plays, including a successful conversion on a fake punt.

It was confusing. An angry Wilson lashed out at Glenn as they walked off the field at halftime. Glenn justified Wilson’s outburst, attributing it to competitive fire.

After that, Wilson was still seething with frustration.

“I didn’t know exactly what the plan was,” he said, explaining his exchange with Glenn. “Once I found out, I was disappointed. I’ll just say that.”

Wilson also said: “I think we’ve got to really have a ‘we’ve got nothing to lose’ mentality. If that’s how we feel, it should be clear. If you’re a player, you should feel like, oh, yeah, let’s go.”

“Even on TV, I feel like you all should be watching that. As a fan base that follows the team and the media, you should be able to know that we’re playing like we have nothing to lose. I don’t think that was evident today. I think that’s where we have to go… We’re 0-6. Let’s let it fly. I’ll say that.”

Glenn’s explanation for the failed two-minute flight was questionable. In essence, he said he didn’t want to give the ball back to the Broncos before halftime, knowing the Jets would receive the start of the second half. Glenn wanted the ball, and was content to trail 10-6 at intermission.

“I think the most important thing is that our thinking wasn’t allowing them to end the half with the ball,” Fields said. “We wanted to end the half with the ball. We were trying to play that way.”

It was one of many strange decisions made by the Jets, who fell to 0-6 for only the third time in franchise history. Their longest pass was 11 yards, and they finished with 82 total yards, the third-lowest in a single game in franchise history.

“It wasn’t good enough, and it started with me,” Fields said. “I’ve got to get the ball out. They’ve got a good D-line. They get into the backfield quickly. Once you get into that rhythm, you’ve got to go one or two and get out of there.”

“Not breaking 100 total yards is kind of crazy,” added guard John Simpson.