Offseason workouts are never a good indicator of how strong a quarterback will be during the regular season. They can, however, show if a person is worthy of their current role.
For Justin Fields and the New York Jets, his worthiness will not be tied to how he looks off the field. His leadership and team-first mentality have been things that were his calling cards dating back to his time in college.
It is his on-field work, though, that has needed the most improvement.
Through the first month and a half of offseason workouts, the Jets believe they have seen much of that improvement from their starting quarterback.
Jets Address Justin Fields’ Improvements
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has been consistent in his support for Fields ever since the team agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal at the start of the offseason.
Since that moment, Fields has been hard at work learning a new offense, and getting to know his new teammates.
After beginning mandatory minicamp on Tuesday afternoon with arguably his best practice in green, the Jets and reporters saw what many have been waiting for: improvements in key parts of Fields’ game.
“He’s improving every day,” Glenn explained. “I thought today was a really good day for him for when we had a move the ball period of him continuously getting the ball down the field.
“But not that, to me the best play through that whole series was the fact that he rolled out, and you guys might have seen it, and [there] wasn’t anybody open, he just threw it away. So, no negative plays, we kept getting positive plays, and he actually got us down there to kick a field goal, which is good.”
Fields was accurate delivering passes on Tuesday and got the ball out quickly. It was a strong showing from a quarterback who has struggled in recent years to read defenses past his intended target.
The main goals for Fields are quite simple this season. He needs to find a way to protect the football and keep the team in advantageous situations by confidently throwing the ball with conviction.
Analysts have seen some of that from the former first round pick throughout his four-year career with the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers.
What he needs now, is consistency – especially when games matter most.
Fields has completed just 56.1% of his passes in the fourth quarter throughout his career—worst in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 200 fourth-quarter pass attempts over that span.
The Jets believe they have a strong offensive plan to get the best out of Fields this season when it matters most. If he can improve on his consistency, there is a solid quarterback in there.
And he’s beginning to show it during Jets minicamp practices.
