Tyrod Taylor injury shines uncomfortable light on Woody Johnson

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson made his thoughts regarding the organization’s quarterback room, particularly Justin Fields, perfectly clear on Tuesday afternoon.

Ahead of league meetings, the 78-year-old heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune spoke in depth about Fields’ failings as a starting quarterback throughout the 2025 season.

At 0-7, Johnson believes a large crux of the team’s issue lies at Fields’ feet.

While he never explicitly said he would prefer to see the former first-round pick benched heading into the team’s Week 8 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson’s strong opinion made it seem as though the Jets could make a complete change to Tyrod Taylor for the rest of the year.

Those notions took a serious hit on Wednesday, though — and it only shines an even more uncomfortable light on the Jets’ owner.

Jets QB room update

The 36-year-old Taylor is dealing with a knee injury that leaves him day-to-day. Taylor appeared at practice, although his status for Sunday remains unclear, as does the Jets’ decision at quarterback.

With Taylor’s new injury and Johnson’s most recent comments, the Jets are in an uncomfortable situation of their own making.

Fields was benched at halftime during New York’s 13-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. During the defeat, the former Chicago Bear and Pittsburgh Steeler failed to record over 100 passing yards for the third time this season.

On Tuesday, Johnson’s comments were clear. He blamed his starting signal-caller for most of New York’s problems this season.

“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got,” Johnson said, speaking of Fields. “I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving… You have to play consistently at that position, and that’s what we’re going to try to do for the remainder of the season.”

Taylor replaced Fields in the second half. While the offense moved the ball better, the longtime veteran threw two interceptions. Head coach Aaron Glenn did not announce who would start in Week 8.

Now, if Taylor can’t go, the Jets will have to turn back to a quarterback their owner publicly bashed.

Uncomfortable situation

If healthy, it seems like the Jets will play Taylor as the starter against the Bengals. Rich Cimini reported as much ahead of Johnson’s sit-down before the owners’ meetings.

But now that the cat is out of the bag and Johnson has made his concerns about Fields public, the team may have to awkwardly go back to the Ohio State product a week after benching him.

It’s an awfully uncomfortable situation for Fields to be in — even if Glenn stood by Johnson’s comments ahead of practice on Wednesday.

“He’s our owner, and he has a right to his opinion,” Glenn said. “And when you look at that, it’s really something that’s been said across the board from everybody, including Justin (Fields).

“We have to improve and we understand that. We’ve gone two games without scoring a touchdown and we have to make sure we get better in that aspect.”

Fields, to his credit, shrugged off Johnson’s comments after practice on Wednesday, stating that he was unaware of them until the media brought them up to him. But the mere fact that he could be in the starting lineup days following them is staggering, to say the least.

Most people would agree with Johnson that Fields has not played like an NFL starting quarterback. For the owner to come out and say as much, though, leaves the Jets in a strange predicament.

It’s a bad look that could have been avoided.