How Jets’ Aaron Glenn is approaching Justin Fields’ injury uncertainty

The starting Jets quarterback for Week 3 is up in the air. 

With Justin Fields in concussion protocol, he could miss Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.

That would lead to Tyrod Taylor starting under center in the team’s first road game of the season. 

“He’s in the protocol right now, and it’s always a hard one to really evaluate until we get more information,” coach Aaron Glenn said on Monday. “So, I’m sure I’ll be giving you guys more information as the week progresses.” 

After a strong Week 1 performance against the Steelers, Fields regressed in an ugly loss to Bills, completing only 3-of-11 passes for 27 yards.

He then suffered a head injury early in the fourth quarter and didn’t return.

Taylor led the offense to its lone touchdown in the lopsided loss in garbage time. 

Asked his philosophy on starting a quarterback who is unable to practice during the week, Glenn said: “Well, it’s hard for me as a coach once we get to Friday and you haven’t had any reps, and that’s just something that I believe in. So again, I don’t want to put anything on that as far as where we’re at with him until we get to that point.” 

The 36-year-old Taylor didn’t appear in any preseason games due to a knee injury, but Glenn isn’t overly concerned about rust if the veteran is pressed into action.

He’s also similar to Fields in terms of being a mobile quarterback who can use his legs. 

“I mean, Tyrod has been in this league for a number of years,” Glenn said, referring to his lack of reps with the first-team offense. “It doesn’t take much for him to understand exactly what we’re trying to do, and what we’re trying to get done. So, I have no concerns with that whatsoever.” 

Glenn explained his decision to punt on 4th-and-1 from his own 28-yard line midway through the third quarter and the Jets trailing by 20 points. 

“We’re still in the game, and I didn’t want to give those guys a short field because obviously our defense, we were struggling a little bit,” he said. “So I felt that if we can punt this ball and we can create some field position, we can try to stop them and then be able to score.” 

The Jets were unable to stop the Bills, who went right down the field for a touchdown that extended the lead to 30-3.