It was the worst passing performance in New York Jets history, and yet the focal point of the debacle — quarterback Justin Fields — received a strong vote of confidence from coach Aaron Glenn, who scolded a reporter for asking if the coach would consider a quarterback change.
“What kind of question is that?” Glenn said after the Jets fell to 0-6 with a 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“There are guys that have bad games,” the coach added. “That doesn’t mean you just bench them. Come on, you know better than that.”
It wasn’t just a bad game; it was all-time bad.
Afterward, star wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who made only three catches for 13 yards, questioned the playcalling. To make it worse, Wilson, arguably their best player, suffered an injury to one of his knee ligaments, a source told ESPN. He will have an MRI upon returning to New Jersey.
The NFL’s only winless team finished with a franchise-low minus-10 net passing yards, the worst by any team in nearly three decades. The San Diego Chargers recorded minus-19 yards on Sept. 20, 1998, against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fields completed only 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards, and he lost 55 yards on nine sacks, resulting in the negative net total. Several factors contributed to the futility, including conservative playcalling by offensive coordinator Tannen Engstrand and occasional pass-protection breakdowns.
“The passing game was nonexistent,” Glenn said.
Fields was pressured on 14 of 29 dropbacks (48%), per NFL Next Gen Stats, but much of that was the result of him holding the ball too long in the pocket. At times, he didn’t see open receivers.
This wasn’t 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,” said Glenn, when questioned about Fields’ job status. “There’s a number of other guys that have to pick their game up, too, so I don’t want sit there and pin this all on Justin.
“You just can’t sit there and say, ‘Oh man, we’re going to bench him,’ because I thought in some other games he’s played well. So I’m not looking at this as just, ‘Man, he played the 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 their 47-yard line and didn’t run another play even though there were 32 seconds on the clock. The offense showed no urgency on the entire drive, which consisted of 10 plays, including a successful conversion on a fake punt.
It was baffling. An irate Wilson gave an earful to Glenn as they walked off the field at halftime. Glenn excused Wilson’s outburst, chalking it up to competitive fire.
Afterward, Wilson still was simmering with frustration.
“I just didn’t know exactly what the plan was,” he said, explaining his exchange with Glenn. “Once I figured it out, I was disappointed. I’ll just say that.”
Wilson also said, “I think we’ve got to truly have a ‘We’ve got nothing to lose’ mentality. If that’s how we feel, it’s got to be obvious. If you’re out there as a player, you should feel like, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s go.’
“Even on the TV, I feel like y’all should see that. As a fan base watching the team and the media, y’all should be able to tell we’re playing like we have nothing to lose. I don’t think that was evident today. I think that’s where we’ve got to … we’re 0-6. Let’s let it fly. I’ll say that.”
Glenn’s explanation for the botched two-minute drive 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 second-half kickoff. Glenn wanted the back-to-back possessions, content to take a 10-6 deficit into the intermission.
“I think the biggest thing is, our thought was not let them end the half with the ball,” Fields said. “We wanted to end the half with the ball. We were trying to play it like that.”
It was one of many curious decisions for the Jets, who dropped to 0-6 for only the third time in franchise history. Their longest pass play was only 11 yards, and they finished with only 82 total net yards, the third lowest in a single game in franchise history.
“It wasn’t good enough and it starts with me,” Fields said. “I have to get the ball out. They’ve got a good D-line. They got to the backfield fast. Once you get into that rhythm, you have to go one, two and get the hell up out of there.”
Guard John Simpson added: “To not crack 100 yards total is kind of crazy.”
