Surprise QB Injury Forces Jets Change for Bengals Game: Report
The football Gods always keep you on your toes.
Brian Costello of the New York Post revealed on Saturday, October 25, that New York Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor has been ruled out for the Week 8 contest versus the Cincinnati Bengals.
Taylor is battling a “knee injury,” and he won’t travel with the team, according to Costello. That means maligned Justin Fields will return to the starting lineup.
“It’s clear now that Taylor’s injury was more serious than the Jets let on,” Costello wrote.
“He was limited in practice all week, but [Aaron] Glenn did not say he was concerned about Taylor’s availability for the game. The Jets listed Taylor as questionable on Friday, and Glenn mentioned Taylor among a group of injured players he said, ‘I really like the way these guys are trending.’ Taylor had knee surgery this summer and missed most of training camp. Taylor said this was the same knee, and it flared up against the Panthers,” Costello said.
Well This Is Awkward…
Fields was ripped by Jets owner Woody Johnson at the league meetings in New York City this week.
“Well, it looks like he [Glenn] is turning around parts of it. It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving. But if you look at any head coach of a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results if you were across the league,” Mr. Johnson explained via ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
It got worse.
Johnson suggested that his team could start winning games, “if we can just complete a pass.”
” I just think defense [and] special teams are doing better. Defense is pretty good. If we can just complete a pass, it would look good,” Mr. Johnson continued to explain via Cimini.
Now Fields will attempt to complete some of those passes as the starting QB in Week 8.
Jets Seemingly Only Go Back to Fields Because of Injury
ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported this week that head coach Aaron Glenn was leaning toward starting Tyrod Taylor in Week 8.
That would have sent Fields to the bench. However, this injury to Taylor has totally changed those plans.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed that Taylor is dealing with a “bone bruise” to his knee.
Jets QB Tyrod Taylor has been ruled out of Sunday’s game due to the bone bruise on his knee, as @BrianCoz reported.
Jets QB Justin Fields starts vs. the Bengals.
Fields Broke Silence on Mr. Johnson’s Comments
“I don’t think me talking to him is going to do anything,” Fields said via Cimini after Wednesday’s practice. “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.”
“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 added via Cimini.
The former Ohio State product has struggled mightily over the last two weeks. In Week 6 against the Denver Broncos, he finished with negative 10 passing yards. In Week 7, he was benched at halftime after throwing for 46 passing yards versus Carolina.
“Of course, everybody knows I need to play better, and we need to play better as a team. And, of course, no matter how the offense does as a unit, I’m going to get the blame. And I understand that — that’s just what comes with the job. You can’t let anything affect your mind,” Fields said this week via Cimini. “No matter if it’s him, no matter if it’s family members, even teammates, sometimes there’s going to be times where you have to be the only one who believes in yourself.”
Micah Parsons Lashes Out at ‘Toxic’ Cowboys After Week 1
Now that the epic trade of Cowboys star Micah Parsons to the Packers is almost two weeks behind us, and now that we have seen Week 1 in the NFL come and go, it’s likely that all parties can begin to move on in earnest. Until, that is, the Packers travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys in Week 4. Then the circus can start all over again.
For Parsons, before we get to that phase of the schedule, there was still something to say, even after his decidedly triumphant debut at Lambeau Field in a convincing Packers win over the Lions no Sunday. He made clear he is still bitter with the Cowboys not so much for the fact that the trade happened, but for the fact that owner Jerry Jones chose to drag the situation through August before finally agreeing to a move.
“These last six months was super draining, super toxic for everyone. It’s something that I don’t think no player should have to go through,” Parsons said at his locker after the Packers win. “I think players’ fates should be decided earlier.”
Cowboys Contract Approach All Too Familiar
Parsons became the third major Cowboys star in two years to have a contract situation dragged into the last week of August. He also was the third different outcome. The Cowboys had Dak Prescott in camp and playing in the summer of 2024, and did not sign him to a new deal until the morning the season started.
He still had more than $50 million on his contract, and had plenty of incentive to simply play out his deal. Star receiver CeeDee Lamb, though, was entering his option year and wanted a new contract. He held out until he got it.
Parsons was also entering his fifth year. He was a hold-in (meaning he showed up for camp but did not participate) and was traded.
Micah Parsons: Trade Circumstances Were ‘Outrageous’
The facts of the trade are not as bothersome to Parsons–at least not now–as the timing of it. Even after collecting a sack in his first game, Parsons was regretting not having had more time to work with his new team.
“The fact that I was traded a week before the season was really outrageous and rough,” Parsons said. “It’s something where I could’ve been with these guys getting better and better and we could’ve had probably (an) even more dominant start if that was the decision they were gonna make. I am just happy that’s behind.”
Cowboys Did Not ‘Embrace’ Micah?
The Packers defense was dominant in holding Detroit to just six points before a late-game drive. It could just be scratching the surface, especially as Parsons gets more comfortable going forward. He played only about 50% of the snaps on Sunday. That will get up to 80% as the year goes on.
Parsons says he has felt welcomed in a way the Cowboys did not make him feel this year.
“These guys embraced me. They believe in my talents,” Parsons said. “They believed in me and I’m just gonna give these guys everything I have because I know what’s at stake and I know what they gave up for me to be here and I’mma do what it takes for us to win.”
