\n New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields carries the ball during Saturday\u2019s game against the New York Giants.
\n AP\n <\/p>\n
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. \u2014 The New York Jets’ passing game has been short on long passes this summer.<\/p>\n
The lack of deep throws has some fans anxious, wondering if Justin Fields and the offense will be able to stretch the field against opponents this season when needed. Well, relying on the run and mixing in short passes might be an effective alternative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, yeah, we\u2019re fine with taking 8-yard completions every play, if I\u2019m being honest with you,\u201d Fields said Tuesday before practice.<\/p>\n
Fields and the starters on offense played just two series in the Jets’ 31-12 preseason loss to the Giants last Saturday night \u2014 and it was hardly an eye-popping display through the air.<\/p>\n
Fields, signed to a two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason to replace Aaron Rodgers as the Jets\u2019 starting quarterback, went just 1-for-5 passing for 4 yards. Meanwhile, New York ran the ball 13 times for 55 yards \u2014 with Fields getting 5 yards on his lone run, which was originally called a pass play.<\/p>\n
Boring, sure. And coach Aaron Glenn said the offense, in general, wasn’t good enough. But Fields insists there’s a method to methodically testing teams on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you want explosives, but like I said Saturday, we\u2019re not going to force the ball down the field,\u201d Fields said. \u201cIf they want to get depth on the second level, we’re fine with taking the 8-, 10-yard completion and taking time off the clock and just driving down the field and having 10-, 15-play drives. It gets the defense tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the Jets’ strengths is their running game with the trio of Breece Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis in the backfield. They’ve all looked solid throughout training camp and the two preseason games, although Davis sat out against the Giants with an ankle issue.<\/p>\n
The ground-and-pound approach was on full display Saturday night, when the Jets opened their second possession by running on 10 straight plays before an incompletion by Fields on third-and-2 to Garrett Wilson. The 11-play drive was capped by a 38-yard field goal by Nick Folk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might not be as exciting on the offensive side of the ball for the fans,\u201d Fields said. \u201cLike I said, it\u2019s efficient ball. It\u2019s also getting the defense tired and, you know, just driving down the field like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left guard John Simpson welcomes it, saying he and his fellow offensive linemen light up a little more when they know it’s going to be a run play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe identity of this team is physicality,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cNo matter what play it is \u2014 run, pass, whatever \u2014 I think coach does a good job at telling us that that\u2019s what he wants. He wants it to be, whatever it is, to be physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if that means we’ve got to run the ball 12 times, 15 times in a row, that\u2019s what it is, so I\u2019m ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as he was Saturday night when he and his O-linemates heard the play calls for almost the entire second series.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go, yeah, I love it,\u201d Simpson said with a laugh. \u201cI just want to be as physical as I can and just dominate. It don\u2019t really matter to me what the play is, but when I do hear a run call, I do get a little bit excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fields would also appear to be a fine fit for a run-first system in new coordinator Tanner Engstrand\u2019s offense. He has terrific scrambling ability, with a knack for turning what seems to be a broken play into a positive with his legs.<\/p>\n
In his second NFL season with Chicago in 2022, Fields ran for a career-best 1,143 yards and eight scores. Simpson is used to playing with a quarterback who can run, having been teammates with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore during the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of not too different for me,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s just football. He\u2019ll find an open hole if he\u2019s got to get loose and run. It\u2019s just us five (O-linemen) doing our job, protecting. And then if he\u2019s got to get loose, he\u2019ll get loose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite what the starting offense has shown through camp and the preseason, Glenn insists he remains \u201cvery confident\u201d in Fields and the Jets’ ability to get the ball down the field through the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have so many people that want to talk about a small amount of plays these guys get to go out there and play,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cThen, everything is falling down because we throw six passes. And then he’s Johnny Unitas when we throw four passes. It bothers me and I laugh at it quite a bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the thing is I understand it. That’s the noise that happens on the outside that our guys can’t really listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philly finale<\/p>\n
Glenn announced \u201ca good amount\u201d of the Jets’ starters will not play in New York’s preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night. But he declined to say which players would sit.<\/p>\n
Back in action<\/p>\n
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (calf) returned to practice and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson participated in some team drills for the first time since tearing his right Achilles tendon in Week 2 last season.<\/p>\n
Cornerback Sauce Gardner was back from a calf injury that sidelined him a few practices. He came up limping after a play late in practice, but Glenn said he was just kicked in the leg and is fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields carries the ball during Saturday\u2019s game against the New York Giants. AP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[2910,769,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,767],"class_list":{"0":"post-302490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-associated-press","9":"tag-content-providers","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-jets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkjets","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-pro-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115059461100688500","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302490","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=302490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}