Justin Fields dismisses Jets owner Woody Johnson's critique of his play: 'Everybody's entitled to their opinion'

Antwan Staley, New York Daily News on Oct 22, 2025

Published in Football

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NEW YORK — A day after New York Jets owner Woody Johnson criticized his play this season, Justin Fields took the high road.

The fifth-year quarterback, who was not aware of Johnson’s comments until Wednesday, said he will not reach out to Johnson, nor does he expect him to do the same. However, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn noted he discussed Johnson’s comments in the team’s Wednesday morning meeting.

“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields said. “It’s not going to make me play better, it’s not going to give me more confidence on the field, so I don’t think there’s necessarily a point in talking about that and I doubt he’ll come and talk to me.

“I’m not sure how he feels about the situation at all, but I mean I don’t have any plans of going up to press him about what he said. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, that’s just what it is, but you just have a choice or not whether those opinions affect you or not.”

Fields could potentially lose his starting job this week against the Bengals. Glenn said on Wednesday that he knows who the starting quarterback will be on Sunday, but won’t divulge that information because it could give Cincinnati a “competitive advantage.”

The day before, Johnson basically blamed Fields for the Jets’ 0-7 start.

“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got,” Johnson said. “I mean, he has the ability, but something just is not jiving.”

Fields said he and Johnson have met before games, but do not have a close relationship.

Fields was benched on Sunday at halftime during the Jets’ 13-6 loss to the Panthers. He completed 6 of 12 passes for 46 yards and was sacked three times. Tyrod Taylor replaced Fields, but the Jets offense was only able to score three points in the final 30 minutes.

Gang Green’s offense has struggled with both Fields and Taylor under center. The team hasn’t registered a touchdown in two weeks and the Jets have just seven in the previous six weeks.

The Jets signed Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract in March, hoping he could be their long-term solution at quarterback. But in addition to their winless record, the Jets rank last in passing yards (143.4) and are 28th in points per game (18.4).

Fields, 26, declined to discuss whether he would ask for a trade if Glenn named Taylor the starting quarterback following Johnson’s comments.

“I don’t like answering those questions, those what if, quote-unquote what if questions,” Fields said. “I’m not going to do that because that’s not going to do anything for me, that’s not going to do anything for this team.

“If anything, that’s going to put on a subject that the team is going to not focus on and the biggest focus right now is this game on Sunday. So, that’s just going to stir up more stuff that we don’t need.”

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