Former Bears QB Gets Put On Blast By New Team’s Ownership

The Chicago Bears have started fairly well in 2025 under new head coach, Ben Johnson.

Johnson has managed to keep the team with their head well above .500 through the first seven weeks of the season, resting at a comfortable 4-2 record for joint-second place in the NFC North with the Detroit Lions, both of whom lie just behind the Green Bay Packers.

Caleb Williams has shown some good things in year two, although even the most ardent of Bears fans that there is still improvement to be had before he can be considered within the broader upper echelon of passers in the league.

But one former Chicago quarterback is not quite having as much fun this season. Justin Fields, who lead the team from the 2021 to 2023 season, throwing for 6,674 yards, 40 touchdowns and 30 interceptions, all for a QB rating of 82.3, is having a brutal time in New York with the Jets in his fifth season in the NFL.

Justin Fields Not Having The Best Time With The Jets In 2025

New York is 0-7 to start the season, and whilst Fields’ stats have not been terrible – 4 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 91.1 rating, he has not been able to push the team forward and make critical plays when they have been needed.

Case in point, despite playing every offensive snap in week 6 in the 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos, the former Ohio State man produced just 45 yards passing off of 17 attempts throwing the ball.

And it seems like the Jets owner, Woody Johnson, is truly not happy with his new and rather expensive quarterback investment just over a third of the way into the season.

Per Newsday Sports’ Tom Rock, Johnson had some pretty poor words for his starting signal caller on Tuesday.

Woody Johnson Levels Sharp Critique At Justin Fields

“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got.” Johnson said to the media on Tuesday, via Rock. He has ability but something is not jiving. And If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results across the league. You have to play consistently at that position, and that’s what we’re gonna try to do for the remainder of the position.”

The Jets owner followed that up by mentioning that both the special teams and the defense looked fairly competent, with a subsequent final jab at the offense production.

“If we can just complete a pass, it would look good. We gotta complete some passes.”

The Jets has always been – similar to Chicago – one of the “quarterback hells” of the NFL. But coming into 2025 with a new head coach in Aaron Glenn, and with the talented Fields signing a 2 year, $40 million deal this past offseason, many fans were optimistic.

But it has not played out that way. Fields has struggled with little offensive direction and limited help both in the offensive weaponry, protection and scheme in the passing game. After being benched for Tyrod Taylor mid-way through week 7’s outing against the Carolina Panthers, it looks like his days in New York could well be numbered.

NBC's Chris Simms Shares New Theory on Why Broncos Will Dethrone Chiefs

People are running out of time to predict just how good the 2025 Denver Broncos might be, but we still have time to indulge before Sunday's kickoff. In that vein, former Broncos quarterback Chris Simms shared a new theory on the

Up & Adams Show , asserting that Bo Nix and the Broncos are about to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs.

"I think this is the year the Denver Broncos upset the Chiefs and win the AFC West," Simms told an excited Adams. "I think this ends, right here, this year. Yeah, Sean Payton, the team they have, the quarterback, all of it. The Chiefs, man, they're amazing. And I feel scared to doubt them. But I just kind of feel like, hey, how many years can they climb to the top of the mountain and do all that? I'm taking the Broncos to kind of upset the world in the AFC West there this year."

Despite Simms' now ancient history with the Broncos, he's not a typical homer. In fact, he joins a growing number of high-profile national pundits who have jumped on the Broncos hype train, and it's been gaining serious momentum.

Simms' Confidence in the Broncos

Simms is particularly high on what Year 2 of the burgeoning relationship between Payton and Nix can deliver. However, it's Denver's additions on the defensive side that give him the finishing touches of confidence to make his prediction.

"The Denver Broncos, with one of the greatest coaches we've seen, and definitely one of the greatest play callers in the last 20 years in Sean Payton. A quarterback that I think is awesome, and really fits what he wants to do. An offensive line that's got a lot of talent, right? So all of that, a running back they drafted in the second round that I'm a big fan of. The receivers are better than I think the public realizes," Simms explained to Adams.

"And then the defense was one of the best defenses in football last year, and it only got better. Yeah, you had the Defensive Player of the Year in [Patrick] Surtain [II], they got [Talanoa] Hufanga from the 49ers at safety. They got Dre Greenlaw, who's one of the best linebackers in the game. I would be shocked if the Denver Broncos aren't one of the three best defenses in the league. So with all that said, yeah, I think this is the year that sets up for them to finally dethrone the Chiefs there."

A Defense Verging on Elite

Vance Joseph's defense did indeed get a lot better, especially with the additions that Simms highlighted in Greenlaw and Hufanga. They were expensive, bold signings made with one eye on becoming even more attacking against the likes of Patrick Mahomes in a division rich with top-notch quarterbacks.

Becoming a top-three defense feels very possible for this group. The push for the Broncos is to move into the rarefied air of being truly elite, and maybe even generational, like the 2015 defense before them.

Underrated Offensive Weapons

When Simms labels Payton as "one of the greatest play callers of the last 20 years," and Nix as being "awesome," the case is being made that this offense can carry its fair share of the Broncos' water. Injecting rookie running back RJ Harvey into the mix was a move Simms really liked, but it's also noteworthy that the NBC analyst feels many are sleeping on the Broncos' wide receiver corps.

Much will depend on Nix finding some productive connections and chemistry early and often with the likes of rookie wideout Pat Bryant before Payton's passing offense can really get on track and put up serious numbers. And although Simms didn't mention him by name, the addition of tight end Evan Engram could help Nix really get rolling early.

The Takeaway

The Broncos open the first two weeks of the season at home against the Tennessee Titans and on the road vs. the Indianapolis Colts, which should give Nix and company a good opportunity to build up a head of steam.