Justin Fields quietly profitable over Jets teammates as chief on and off the sector

Garrett Wilson acquired used to teammates approaching him within the Jets locker room this spring to speak about new quarterback Justin Fields.

“Guys come as much as me and say, ‘That’s my man.’ I already know. It’s been tremendous cool. He’s acquired a unique means about him,” mentioned Wilson, who performed with Fields at Ohio State. “He’s extra quiet with regards to attending to know folks. It’s not going to be that first day, however when it does click on it’s like, ‘Man, this dude is tremendous cool, like tremendous cool.’ ”

Fields spent the spring profitable over his new Jets teammates and establishing himself as a pacesetter. It comes with the job description of being an NFL quarterback, and Fields is aware of it.

“I sort of had a sense after I acquired right here, guys have been searching for a pacesetter to step up on offense, so I used to be glad to obtain that position, and naturally been pushing the fellows every day to be our greatest and play as much as our normal,” Fields mentioned.

However Fields is a a lot completely different chief than Aaron Rodgers, his predecessor on the place. Coach Aaron Glenn has praised the “quiet confidence” Fields initiatives. There was nothing quiet about Rodgers.

“I take to him as a result of he’s genuine and he’s himself,” Glenn mentioned of Fields. “It’s one factor that gamers can pick is somebody that’s faux, and there’s nothing about him that’s faux. So, I like every thing in regards to the participant, I like every thing about the best way he carries himself.”

Jets gamers will not be outwardly evaluating Fields and Rodgers, however one thing operating again Breece Corridor mentioned this spring stood out. He talked about Fields’ age (26) and the way that helps him relate to his teammates. Rodgers was the oldest participant within the NFL final yr and is now 41.

“, he will get hyped like everyone else,” Corridor mentioned of Fields. “He’s younger like us. So we speak about a number of the identical stuff. , we are able to hang around on the weekends, and it’s simply been cool to be round. He’s an excellent dude.”

Fields organized off-field actions together with his teammates to get to know them this spring and has embraced that a part of the job. Nobody will care, after all, if he doesn’t play properly this season, however the Jets have been inspired by what they noticed from Fields this spring.

The group determined to signal him to a two-year, $40 million contract hoping they’ll witness him flip his profession round in a Jets uniform.

There have been encouraging indicators over the previous two years. In his previous 13 video games — six with the Steelers final yr and 7 with the Bears in 2023 — Fields has accomplished 63.3 p.c of his passes and thrown 10 touchdowns and simply 4 interceptions. He has run 132 instances for 651 yards and eight touchdowns in that span.

“It’s simply progress,” Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand mentioned. “Going via his profession, simply persevering with to stack expertise together with it, after which finally [he] finally ends up profitable 4 video games out of the six [in 2024]. You simply see a number of the issues which can be beginning to develop in his recreation, and then you definitely take a look at that and also you go, ‘That’s fairly good. We are able to do some issues with that.’ And that’s sort of I believe the place it began, after which, after all, all the opposite issues that everyone talks about, that’s actual. These issues are actual, and we’re excited to get going with him.”

Tight finish Jeremy Ruckert additionally performed with Fields at Ohio State. He mentioned Fields has the precise make-up to thrive right here.

“I imply, ever since he walked on campus with us at Ohio State, coming from Georgia, you sense the seriousness about him, the competitiveness,” Ruckert mentioned. “He’s tremendous athletic. However I believe the largest factor about him is his psychological toughness. Nothing’s going to rattle him. He’s good for this group and this space, and he needs the stress. He’s constructed for it.”