{"id":284037,"date":"2025-08-13T05:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T05:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/284037\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T05:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T05:33:11","slug":"jets-justin-fields-says-his-focus-on-his-faith-the-past-6-months-has-helped-him-shake-off-criticism-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/284037\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets’ Justin Fields says his focus on his faith the past 6 months has helped him shake off criticism | National"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Justin Fields heard all the criticisms \u2014 and occasional kudos \u2014 that came his way from fans and media during his first four NFL seasons.<\/p>\n

The New York Jets quarterback<\/a> would let it affect him, too. It would even shape his own opinions about his play and abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just let people be and let them speak,\u201d Fields said after a joint practice with the Giants on Tuesday. \u201cThat\u2019s not going to affect me whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it used to, he acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say I just kind of got like this the past six months, to be honest with you,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n

It was a somewhat surprising revelation from Fields, given the ups and downs he has had during his NFL journey since being the 11th overall pick by Chicago out of Ohio State in 2021. He went from the hopeful franchise quarterback of the Bears to out the door after only three seasons, traded to Pittsburgh last year.<\/p>\n

He started for an injured Russell Wilson and went 4-2 in six games for the Steelers before seeing the bench again in favor of the veteran \u2014 who’s also now in New York, but with the Giants. During this past offseason, Fields signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Jets<\/a> \u2014 who immediately labeled him their new starter.<\/p>\n

That, however, has been a process.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot\u2019s gone into that, to be honest,\u201d Fields said. “I would say experiences, for sure. But also, I think my relationship with God. I don\u2019t play for anybody\u2019s approval. You guys are all going to have your opinion and I\u2019m never going to take any of it personal. Like I said, it doesn\u2019t matter. Y\u2019all can have an opinion, y\u2019all could say this and that, but at the end of the day, our lives aren’t going to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I say something to y’all right now, the same thing\u2019s going to happen. It doesn\u2019t really affect life, it doesn’t affect the way we live. So, if you look at it from that perspective, the bigger perspective, no matter what anybody says, it doesn\u2019t matter at the end of the day. It has zero meaning to me, to anybody, and God controls everything that happens in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the 26-year-old Fields didn’t detail the events that triggered his religious re-awakening, he acknowledged that the Bible has been even more impactful than any playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, me really getting closer to God, like I said, my relationship, me reading the Bible every day,\u201d he said. “And if I\u2019m being real, there are some great lines and great wisdom that I didn\u2019t even know of. So I\u2019m low-key addicted to getting in my Bible each and every day just because I learn something new every day and I\u2019m able to apply it in my everyday life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I mean, I was sleeping on reading the Bible earlier in my life and I wish I would have started earlier. So I encourage y\u2019all to, you know, go read a little bit. Start in Proverbs and move on from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if he believes that will ultimately help him be successful, Fields didn’t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it will,\u201d he said. \u201cI know it will, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Justin Fields heard all the criticisms \u2014 and occasional kudos \u2014 that came…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,226,54403,1917,255,2321,2097,6,498,13424,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-284037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-jets-justin-fields-bible-religion","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-football","17":"tag-religion","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115019828665142790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}