QB Justin Fields is set for a non-contact practice on Thursday, though HC Aaron Glenn said that the Jets' starter remains in the concussion protocol.
"So again, he still has to go through the whole protocol before he's totally cleared," Glenn told reporters ahead of Monday night's game at Miami. "But I like where he's at."
If Fields, who sustained a concussion on a hit by Joey Bosa in the Week 2 game against Buffalo, is deemed recovered from the head injury Glenn said: "If he's cleared, he's starting."
If Fields isn't ready, Tyrod Taylor would again lead the Green & White offense as he did last week at Tampa Bay.
The last time Fields played against Miami, he authored an epic performance.
It was during the 2022 season when the Dolphins visited Chicago's Soldier Field and Fields, in his only game against Miami in his four-year NFL career, was calling signals for the Bears. In that game he rushed for 178 yards — including a highlight-reel 61-yard touchdown — on 15 carries and threw for 3 TDs while posting a 106.7 passer rating. He accounted for the Bears' 10 longest plays from scrimmage in that game with runs of 61, 17, 17, 14, 13 and 12 yards and passes of 18, 16, 12 and 12 yards
His rushing total in the game set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a regular-season game, surpassing the 173 yards by Michael Vick on Dec. 1, 2002 in an overtime win over the Vikings. Fields also became the first player in league history to rush for at least 140 yards and throw 3 or more TD passes in a game since at least 1950.
So far in two games this season, Fields is 19-of-33 passing for 245 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. He has carried the ball 17 times for 97 yards (5.7 per carry), including a long gain of 33 yards, with a pair of TDs, 7 first downs while averaging 48.5 yards a game rushing.
In the past two games the Jets were forced to play from behind and last week scored 21 points in a furious fourth-quarter rally against the Bucs.
"We have to start fast," Glenn said, no matter if it's Fields or Taylor at quarterback. "And another thing, what we talked about today, man, we have to have a high level of execution, and that's in all three phases, the offense, defense and special teams. Now we have to run the ball better. Listen, I know we were going against three really good teams that we played, but that doesn't matter to me.
"I have an expectation of this team on how we operate, and I'm not going to stand down from that, and our guys won't stand down from that. And they know for a fact that we have to prove it in those areas, we have to get our running game going, which opens up our passing game. We all know that, and we want to make sure we execute at a high level all three phases."
Glenn and the Jets are also dealing with injuries to other players. LBs Quincy Williams (shoulder) and Marcelino McCrary-Ball (hamstring) have been placed on injured reserve and "will be out a while," Glenn said. He said that edge Jermaine Johnson (ankle) and newly acquired CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (ankle) are week-to-week. RB Kene Nwangwu (hamstring), WR Josh Reynolds (hamstring), DT Jay Tufele (illness) and S Tony Adams (hip) all returned to practice.
