Justin Fields is only getting worse in a critical area
Monday night’s game in Miami carried high stakes for Justin Fields’ outlook with the New York Jets.
After starting the season with one excellent game, one nightmarish game, and one missed game, Monday would define Fields’ trajectory after the first quarter of the season. Would he make it two solid games out of three? Or two subpar games out of three?
Facing off against the league’s worst defense in terms of opponent passer rating, Fields had a golden opportunity to restore the optimism that surrounded him after his Week 1 showcase.
But if Fields looked poor or mediocre against this quality of opponent, it would become difficult to have much remaining faith in Fields’ chances of forging a breakout season in New York. He would enter Week 5 with just one impressive performance out of four weeks.
So, what exactly went down for Fields in Miami?
The surface-level numbers tell one story, but after peeking beneath the hood, something troubling is uncovered.
Justin Fields’ Miami performance is misleading on the surface
If you check the box score, it appears that Fields rose to the occasion in Miami, even if it wasn’t enough to win the game.
Fields finished 20-of-27 (74.1%) for 226 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, while adding seven rush attempts for 81 yards and a touchdown. Fields also took two sacks for 19 yards, losing a fumble on one of them.
Those are solid numbers. They resulted in a passer rating of 111.0, which isn’t far off from Fields’ 119.1 mark in the season opener. He also racked up season highs of 288 net yards and a 74.1% completion rate.
Head coach Aaron Glenn praised Fields’ performance when speaking to the media, saying he believed Fields played “pretty well” and that “[of] the three games that he’s played in, he’s had two games where he was really solid.”
Between the box-score numbers and Glenn’s quotes, it sure sounds like Fields did exactly what he needed to: Seize the opportunity against a bad defense to make it two solid games out three, restoring optimism in his chances of a breakout year.
If you look a little deeper, though, Fields’ performance becomes much less encouraging.
Contextualizing Fields’ performance in Miami
The first note of importance is that Fields racked up much of his production in what was essentially garbage time.
After the Jets got the ball back down by 14 with 3:26 remaining, Fields finished 5-of-7 for 85 yards and his lone touchdown, an insane grab by Garrett Wilson that had no business being completed. In prototype stat-padding fashion, Fields’ longest aerial gain of the night came on a 28-yard desperation lateral play with two seconds left.
Before the Jets’ final two garbage time drives, Fields was 15-of-20 for just 141 yards and no scores, with a net of 122 passing yards after accounting for the two sacks. He only had two completions beyond 10 yards downfield.
READ MORE: Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets: Playing to make the next mistake
It is also worth mentioning that Fields benefited from some fantastic catches to bail out his shaky accuracy. Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall both recorded impressive grabs to turn errant throws into completions.
After accounting for his garbage time accumulation and the excellent catches he benefited from, multiple advanced metrics show that Fields did not actually play very well in Miami.
When adjusted for garbage time (win probability from 10-90%), Fields ranked 24th out of 31 qualified quarterbacks in EPA per dropback during Week 4, per RBSDM.
Pro Football Focus scored Fields with a 50.3 grade as a passer, placing 28th in Week 4. This metric is unadjusted for garbage time, so it still believes he performed poorly even when including the big completions he padded on near the end.
Suddenly, Fields’ Week 4 performance does not look so promising. When you apply context and evaluate him through the eye test, it is clear that he struggled. Toss in the fact that Miami allowed the highest passer rating in football through three weeks, and Fields certainly performed well below expectations, regardless of how many fantasy points he scored.
Fields’ struggles in Miami occurred for multiple reasons, but the most glaring of those is a problem that he has spent his whole career trying to improve: His release speed.
Justin Fields’ release speed is worse than ever
Over his first four seasons, Fields consistently ranked among the top quarterbacks in time to throw. This occurred due to a combination of hesitancy, indecisiveness, slow processing speed, and an elongated throwing motion. His tendency to hang onto the football caused him to miss big plays downfield, take too many sacks, and accumulate fumbles.
The Jets hoped that Fields would finally rectify this issue in their scheme, which was designed around his strengths and weaknesses. Going into 2025, he seemed to be trending up, as in 2024, Fields set a career-low with an average time to throw of 3.09 seconds.
So far, though, Fields has only gotten worse in this area. It’s the main reason he struggled in Miami, and unless he makes a seismic turnaround overnight, it will be the reason he does not reach new heights as a starting quarterback.
Against the Dolphins, Fields averaged 3.65 seconds to throw, leading all quarterbacks in Week 4. It was 0.3 seconds ahead of the second-ranked player.
Fields has averaged at least 3.34 seconds to throw in each of his three starts this season. On the year, he is averaging 3.5 seconds to throw, which not only leads the NFL, but is on pace to be Fields’ career high.
There are many successful quarterbacks who tend to hold the ball for over three seconds – Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts are two examples – but 3.5 seconds is absurdly long. Fields is in his own stratosphere when it comes to how long he hangs onto the football.
Fields’ 3.5 seconds to throw is 0.24 seconds ahead of the second-ranked player this season, Caleb Williams (3.26). That is a larger gap than the one between Williams and eighth-ranked Jalen Hurts (3.03).
If you want to take it one step further, the gap between Fields and Williams is as large as the one between ninth-ranked Drake Maye (2.93) and 27th-ranked Russell Wilson (2.71).
Simply put, Fields is playing a completely different sport than the rest of the NFL.
READ MORE: Fledgling Jets staring at daunting Aaron Glenn dilemma
Until Fields masters the basic fundamentals of the quarterback position, he will continue to be the same guy he has been for four-plus NFL seasons: An uber-talented athlete who occasionally busts out mind-blowing highlights, but struggles mightily with his consistency as a passer from down to down and game to game.
That’s who he was in Miami, and it’s who he will be for the foreseeable future until he starts getting the ball out much quicker.
But considering that he has struggled in this area since his rookie year and is only faring even worse than he did back then, it does not seem likely that Fields will eliminate this issue anytime soon.
The longer Fields goes without fixing some of these long-standing problems, the likelier it becomes that Fields simply is who he is.
Tom Brady Defends Drake Maye: "This Team’s About to Embarrass the Entire NFL!"
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In a powerful response to critics who have questioned Drake Maye’s legitimacy as a top NFL quarterback, New England Patriots legend Tom Brady stepped up to defend the young star. Brady, widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, didn’t hold back when addressing those who doubted Maye’s rapid ascent to the starting role with the Patriots.
“If you think Drake Maye is a fluke, come say it to my face,” Brady boldly stated. “This team’s about to embarrass the entire NFL.”
The comments come off the back of Maye’s breakout season, where the
Brady, known for his legendary career with the Patriots, made it clear that Maye has the tools to lead the team to victory. “Drake’s got the mentality, the arm strength, and the leadership you need to succeed in this league. This team is built for greatness,” Brady added. “Anyone who doubts that is about to be proven wrong.”
Brady’s words reflect the growing confidence within the Patriots’ locker room. With Maye at the helm, supported by a revamped offense and a stout defense, the team is poised to dominate in the coming seasons. Brady’s endorsement of the young quarterback only solidifies the belief that Maye can take the Patriots back to the top of the AFC.
As the season progresses, the NFL world will be watching to see if Maye can continue his rise and prove that his early success was no fluke. With Brady’s backing, it’s clear the New England Patriots are preparing for a major resurgence—and they’re ready to make a statement.
