It was bound to happen sooner or later.
The New York Jets are 0-7 and arguably the worst team in the NFL. Their head coach looks completely overmatched on the sidelines every week.
The quarterback they spent $30 million guaranteed on this past offseason has been a disaster. The offense as a whole is now one of the worst in the league and the frustration is all over the faces on some key players.
Owner Woody Johnson was mostly out of the picture this season. He hired head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey and is letting them build the team in their vision.
But, as we all know, an owner is never truly out of the picture and at the start of the NFL’s league meetings, Johnson had some interesting comments about his head coach as well as his quarterback.
“I see what you see, but I have more hope than you do”, Johnson said when asked about Glenn. “I do believe in Aaron. If I were a player, I’d respond to him because he’s the real deal.”
Johnson also went on to say that the decision to switch quarterbacks from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor is completely up to Glenn and he also praised his head coach for “turning around parts” of the team. If that’s not a vote of confidence for the head coach, I don’t know what is.
However, Johnson was not so complimentary of Fields, who has really struggled over the past few weeks.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that … he has the ability but something is just not [jibing,]” Johnson said. “But if you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that you’re going to see similar results if you go across the league, you have to play consistently at that position and that’s what we’re going to try to do for the remainder of the season.”
Let’s state the obvious: Woody wasn’t wrong in what he said about Fields.
His overall play has been atrocious and while it’s not entirely the fault of the quarterback, his inability to get rid of the football as well as not see wide open receivers is very alarming. There have been multiple reports that some players feel Tyrod Taylor gives them a better chance to win and, after another terrible performance against the Panthers in Week 7, it’s fair to wonder if Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand have lost some confidence in him.
Johnson will always be in a lose-lose situation when it comes to the media and the fans.
If he gives reporters a phony answer, then everyone will see right through it. If he supports Fields knowing how poorly he’s played, the fans will destroy him on social media. Reporters figured they would get the same tired comments they hear in every press conference.
Johnson surprised them with being openly honest. Everyone thought he was out of line. I thought it was refreshing to hear some truth and I wish it was done more often.
As fans, all we’ve ever asked for is to not insult our intelligence. We watch the same games the coaches do.
When the coaches are asked a question, be honest. Spare us the word salad because we’re not buying it. We finally get an honest opinion about the performance of the quarterback from the owner of the team.
The Jets reporters, as well as the fans, now feel bad for the quarterback they’ve been trashing all season simply because the owner basically agreed with their assessment and said the quiet part out loud. Hypocrisy at its finest.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Defending Woody Johnson’s comments about New York Jets QB Justin Fields
Reporting by Craig Moffett, Jets Wire / Jets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
