Woody Johnson sucks. Unquestionably one of the worst NFL owners, Johnson made the decision on Tuesday to try and defend first-year head coach Aaron Glenn by throwing Justin Fields under the bus. There’s no question that Fields struggled in a Week 7 loss to the Panthers, but so did backup Tyrod Taylor, who entered the game in the second half and proceeded to complete less than 50 percent of his passes, adding two interceptions for good measure.
It was a total team failure as Glenn is attempting to change the culture in the Jets, and is dealing with an imperfect roster — but the team owner chose to narrow the blame down to Fields.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got. He has the ability, but something is not jiving. If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you are going to see similar results 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.”
It was stunningly unnecessary for Johnson to single out the quarterback. Proof once more that just because owners have money, doesn’t mean they understand ball. What should have been an internal conversation, one left up to Glenn as coach of this team, became a firestorm because billionaires too often conflate their net worth with their intelligence.
“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields said Wednesday after practice. “It’s not going to make me play better. It’s not going to give me more confidence on the field, so I don’t think there’s necessarily a point in talking about that, and I doubt he’ll come and talk to me.”
There is no question Fields has struggled over the last two weeks. Against the Cowboys on October 5 he was sensational, completing almost 70 percent of his passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns, but then came crashing back to earth against the Broncos and Panthers respectively. This only tells a small part of the story though.
While Fields has been bad, running back Breece Hall has been horrifically inconsistent — which has taken away the threat of play action and limited the RPO game. In addition, the only decent weapon the Jets have in the passing game is Garrett Wilson, who was out Sunday due to injury. Meanwhile the offensive line has been abysmal for the Jets, giving up 31 sacks in seven games, committing stupid penalties, and not being able to consistently hold their blocks.
Yet Woody Johnson chose to put it all on Justin Fields.
Quarterbacks are the lightning rod, and while it comes with the territory it’s not an owner’s place to engage in that — whether they own the team or not. Ultimately one of two things are true:
No matter the answer, Johnson is a buffoon for getting involved and not letting this be a locker room issue.
