Under-fire Justin Fields responds to criticism from Jets owner

After a shaky start to the season New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields has responded to criticism from the team owner, insisting that he will continue to focus on his game.

Fields has lead the Jets to a chastening 0-7 start to the season and owner Woody Johnson called out the quarterback in a public appearance earlier this week. Johnson said: “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving.”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Fields was asked if he had spoken to Johnson about the comments.

“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields replied. “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.”

“I’m not sure how he feels about the situation at all, but, I mean, I don’t have any plans going up to press him about what he said,” Fields added. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. That’s just what it is, but you just have a choice or not whether those opinions affect you or not.”

Fields was brought to New York over the summer, arriving on a two-year $40 million deal from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has started each of the first seven games but was benched at halftime of Sunday’s defeat to the Carolina Panthers.

Back-up QB Tyrod Taylor played the second half and now looks like a very real option heading into this weekend’s trip to the Cincinnati Bengals. So far head coach Aaron Glenn has refused to indicate whether he is going to make a change at quarterback but there is certainly a growing sense that Fields is not the player to lead this team forward.

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