Jets remaining confident as Tyrod Taylor gets opportunity to start

For the third time in four seasons, the Jets will turn to their backup quarterback for a start before October even arrives. 

Justin Fields, who sustained a concussion Sunday, was ruled out for the Week 3 game by Jets head coach Aaron Glenn on Wednesday — meaning that Tyrod Taylor will make his first start since 2023 when Gang Green face the Buccaneers in Tampa.

Fields is in the league’s five-step concussion protocol, but when asked if the quick decision on his status revolved around a lack of progression, Glenn said, “Well I don’t want to say that. I just know how these things are, and just to my knowledge, this week, he’ll be out.” 

Fields exited Sunday’s game early after completing just 3 of his 11 passes for 27 yards and taking a step back following an impressive Jets debut.

On a third-and-10 early in the fourth quarter, he was pursued by Bills defensive end Joey Bosa and hit his head on the MetLife Stadium turf at the end of the play.

So with Gang Green trying to avoid an 0-3 opening act, Taylor — who has started 59 regular-season and playoff games across his 15-year career — will make his first start since filling in five times in 2023 with the Giants, though he downplayed the idea that the stakes add any extra pressure. 

“We know we’re facing a very good team,” Taylor said, “but I have all the belief and faith in the guys in this locker room that we can get the job done.” 

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Taylor has built his NFL career around fluctuating between starting and sitting behind other signal-callers — he spent time with the Ravens, Bills, Giants, Chargers, Texans and Browns before the Jets — but when he entered the league as a sixth-round pick in 2011, the role was new.

He never waited to play in high school. Never needed to wait at Virginia Tech, either.

But as a rookie, he challenged himself to prepare the same way each week and built a foundation for maximizing any opportunity that materialized. 

“Obviously, you want to be out there playing, but there’s other ways you can affect the team in a positive way,” Taylor said. “And as I sit and wait my time for the opportunity to present itself, I can’t be a bad teammate. I can’t sulk in what-if or what should happen. The reality of it is that I need to be in the moment.” 

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After signing a two-year deal last year, he never had much of a chance to contribute during his first season with the Jets.

Taylor appeared in two games in 2024 as the backup to Aaron Rodgers and settled into the backup role again after Fields inked his two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason.

He missed a chunk of time in training camp this summer — as well as the entire preseason — after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in August, but Taylor continued to log mental reps in meetings with the other quarterbacks and the coaching staff as he learned his latest system. 

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Despite the procedure, he only spent one day away from the Florham Park facility, and “he has over 14 years of reps,” Glenn said. 

“So he’s not new to this,” he added. 

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Fields’ absence will mark the latest instance of the Jets being forced to pivot to their backup quarterback early in the season.

Zach Wilson suffered a torn meniscus and bone bruise in his right knee during a 2022 preseason game that kept him out for the first three games. Then Rodgers famously tore his Achilles just four offensive snaps into the 2023 season, requiring Wilson to step back into the starting role. 

And now, for one week, Taylor — who Sauce Gardner referred to as “The Hooper” and “a baller” because of his ability to direct the offense down the field — will be tasked with trying to stabilize an offense that flashed potential in Week 1, when it compiled 394 yards, and then produced plenty of reasons to worry during a 154-yard dud one week later. 

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“There’s an element within him that we also have in Justin that I like a lot,” Glenn said, “and the fact that he’s been in this league for a long time, there’s no coverage, there’s no pressure that he hasn’t seen. 

“There’s no better player that you want as a backup quarterback than him at this point in time.”