It has been an eventful week, but for all the wrong reasons for the New York Jets. After their seventh straight loss and confirmation from head coach Aaron Glenn that star Sauce Gardner has a concussion, the team is struggling to handle the quarterback room. During their week 7 loss to the Carolina Panthers, New York benched starting quarterback Justin Fields in favor of veteran backup Tyrod Taylor. Despite throwing two interceptions, Taylor managed to move the ball more effectively during the second half. This led to a conversation about a long-term switch at the starter. Including criticism for Fields coming from team owner Woody Johnson.
However, despite being non-commital on naming a starter, Aaron Glenn had a good reason after the latest report. During the week, fans expected Taylor to start this week vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in place of Fields. Alas, Taylor reaggravated a previous knee injury. As a result, Fields will remain the starter while Taylor will miss the game. Behind Fields, New York has promoted third-string quarterback UDFA Brady Cook from the practice squad to be the backup.
Jets QB Tyrod Taylor has been ruled out of Sunday’s game due to the bone bruise on his knee, as @BrianCoz reported.
Jets QB Justin Fields starts vs. the Bengals. pic.twitter.com/E5Vmwqvmgg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 25, 2025
Jets Go Back to Justin Fields After Taylor’s Knee Injury
The problems of the 2025 New York Jets stretch far and wide. While not the primary culprit, blame does fall on the shoulders of quarterback Justin Fields. After his highlight(and lowlight) filled flashes during his tenure with the Chicago Bears, the 2021 first-round pick couldn’t hold the starting job for the full season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even though he hasn’t thrown an interception this year, Justin Fields has shown why his market was limited last offseason. Through only six games, Justin Fields has a putrid quarterback rating of 31.8, second-worst in the league. Since the season opener, the Jets offense has yet to have a touchdown in the first half. Despite the poor start on defense as well, you can’t win games if your offense can’t get in the end zone.
After failing to find the endzone last week vs. the Carolina Panthers, New York benched Fields and replaced him with veteran Tyrod Taylor. Even though the journeyman is 36 years old, Taylor is still a serviceable backup quarterback. But he was only supposed to be the backup. New York put all their eggs in a big basket this season, signing Justin Fields to a two-year deal. Alas, he hasn’t lived up to the two-year $40 million deal. In Taylor’s only start this year, Tyrod completed 72% of his passes for 197 yards with two touchdown passes and a costly pick-six against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Once Fields was benched, fans expected Taylor to claim the starting job against the Bengals in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, Glenn was hush on naming a starter. Well, despite the intentions of starting Tyrod Taylor, a knee injury has ruled Taylor out of the game. Taylor didn’t play a snap of preseason football this summer after suffering a knee injury late in July. The same knee he hurt in this game was the one he had a procedure done on in the summer.
Can Justin Fields turn it around this week?
Understandably, many aren’t optimistic for the Jets to earn their first win this week. To Fields’s benefit, he will be playing a Bengals defense that allows, on average, the second-most yards per game, behind only the Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately, it will be a tall task as star wide receiver Garrett Wilson will be out, as well as veteran Josh Reynolds.
Without Wilson or Reynolds, the Jets will be thin in the wide receiver room this week. Their best bet is to continue to feed the ball to star running back Breece Hall and hope for some more involvement from standout rookie tight end Mason Taylor. It’s hard to be optimistic while winless near Halloween. But there is still hope for a bright future in 2026 with a potential first overall draft pick in sight. Especially with Jets scouts confirmed in Indiana this week to watch quarterback Fernando Mendoza firsthand.
Main Photo: [Robert Deutsch] – Imagn Images
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