FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Justin Fields' internal clock has become a timely topic of discussion again.
The New York Jets quarterback has long been criticized for his propensity to hold onto the football too long at times, resulting in sacks and blown opportunities.
Fields didn't help his case Sunday, when he was sacked nine times and the Jets finished with a franchise-worst minus-10 net yards passing in New York's 13-11 loss to Denver in London — with several
plays attributed to him not getting the football out in a timely manner. Fields acknowledged as much earlier this week, and so did coach Aaron Glenn.
But Glenn also set off alarms Friday on social media among fans frustrated with the play of their team's quarterback during an 0-6 start by mentioning Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and Buffalo's Josh Allen — former NFL MVPs — in defense of Fields.
“I know that’s a huge topic that everyone talks about," Glenn said, "but sometimes there’s a lot that goes into that and when you look at the time he gets the ball out, some of those have been some of his best games when he’s holding the ball 3 seconds or whatnot.
“And it’s who he is, and sometimes it’s play calls and the way that he sees things.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Fields’ average time to throw is 3.01 seconds, which ranks second-worst among quarterbacks with at least three starts only to Chicago's Caleb Williams at 3.08.
“I’m not sitting here saying he doesn’t need to get the ball out,” Glenn added. “There are some quick games where the ball has to come out and you work on those in practice, but there’s also an element of, ‘Man, we know who that player is.’”
Glenn meant Fields — since his days at Ohio State and early in his NFL career with Chicago and last season with Pittsburgh — has been known as a terrific athlete who makes plays with his legs and uses his athleticism to run the offense, but sometimes takes a bit longer to get the ball out.
He says slow release times don't always tell the whole story.
“You look at Lamar Jackson, his numbers getting the ball out (are) higher than Justin’s,” Glenn said. "I think Josh Allen’s numbers are higher than Justin’s. But I think everybody tends to see who those guys are and understand that. And for some reason they don’t understand Justin.
"But listen, I’m not sitting here saying that there are some times where he’s got to get the ball out. He knows that and he articulated that to you guys and we’re going to continue to work on that as much as we can.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Jackson (2.87 seconds) and Allen (2.91) are a bit quicker at getting the football out, even with their tendencies to scramble and throw.
As Glenn said, Fields has had some of his best games when the release time has been higher: His average time to throw in the season opener against Pittsburgh was 3.53 seconds — and was arguably his best overall performance with the Jets.
Fields said this week he wants to be “a little bit more aggressive” with throwing the ball downfield, starting Sunday against Carolina, while acknowledging he has been “a little bit too conservative.” He doesn't have an interception, though, and wants to balance risk with being smart.
“I’ve always just been big on ball security and not putting the ball in jeopardy,” said Fields, who has just four touchdown passes this season. "But it comes to a point where you’ve just got to find that healthy balance between trying to maybe fit it in smaller windows and just letting it rip.”
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