As the New York Jets walked off the field at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on Thursday night, talk around the team centered on the starting quarterback.

Again.

Justin Fields struggled mightily during New York’s 27-14 loss to the New England Patriots. For the fourth time in the last five games, he failed to throw for over 150 yards.

While Fields remains an easy target for fans of the Jets and the national media, the locker room and coaching staff remained firmly in the former first-round pick’s corner.

Jets defend Fields’ performance

Once again, the numbers behind Fields’ performance are not pretty. The former Bear and Steeler completed 15 of 26 passes for 105 net yards and a single touchdown pass. He added a team-high 67 yards on the ground.

While there were undoubtedly some highlight reel plays, Fields’ performance was lackluster again. He held onto the ball consistently and was inaccurate on many throws down the field.

On one such play, Fields targeted newcoming receiver Adonai Mitchell on a wheel route. Instead of putting the ball on the wideout and making it easier for him, the Jets’ quarterback threw an inaccurate ball that Mitchell couldn’t come down with.

There were many inaccurate throws like that from Fields all game.

Despite the accuracy issues, the Jets defended Fields’ performance by pushing some of his other receivers to step up.

“There are some plays out there our guys got make for him,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said afterward. “There were some plays to be made out there. I thought he (Fields) had some really good throws. We just got to finish those.”

Among the receivers mentioned by Glenn was Mitchell specifically. The newcomer dropped several passes for New York during Thursday’s loss.

Despite the omission, though, Fields dealt with several issues on his own end. Late in the fourth quarter, he fumbled a low snap that effectively ended the contest for the Jets. He also struggled mightily with ball placement on throws, something a former first-round quarterbacks shouldn’t be struggling with.

However, even after 10 games of inconsistency in the passing game, it doesn’t look like the Jets are making a quarterback change anytime soon.

Jets players defend Fields

Speaking to Jets X-Factor following Thursday’s loss, both rookie tight end Mason Taylor and wide receiver John Metchie III spoke glowingly about Fields as a leader, person, and player for the team.

“He’s great,” Taylor said. “His growth has been tremendous. All 10 of us guys are behind him on the offense. He’s our leader.”

Throughout his NFL career, Fields has earned a reputation as a strong leader for organizations around the league, despite clear limitations as a passer. His time in New York has been no exception. His play on the field, though, improved especially when targeting one specific wideout on Thursday.

John Metchie III is on his third team in as many seasons. He caught three passes for a team-high 45 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season, and second of his NFL career.

Metchie credited Fields’ leadership style as a reason why he was pleased to come to New York as part of the Michael Carter trade.

“How dynamic he is, how he leads, we had really good moments of that in drives during the game,” Metchie told X-Factor. “How he leads (is impressive).”

Despite the 2-8 mark, it’s hard to tell if changes are coming to the Jets’ offense going into next week’s contest against the Baltimore Ravens. At the very least, though, New York seems more than comfortable turning to Fields once again.

Next week will tell whether they prefer to keep that mindset moving forward.