When it comes to who will or will not play against Philadelphia, HC Aaron Glenn said "some starters will not play in this game." Will Justin Fields play? "I'm not going to say who, but a good amount of starters won't play."
In his two preseason games for the Green & White, Fields took snaps for three series, throwing a total of 9 passes (4 completions) for 46 yards. He did, however, make a 13-yard run for a TD at Green Bay to cap a 10-play, 79-yard opening drive of the game, his lone series. For the starters over the two games, Glenn and OC Tanner Engstrand hewed toward conservative play-calling, emphasizing the run game, and more than likely keeping a chunk of the offense's playbook under wraps ... for now.
Fields' longest completion, which came against the Packers, was for 24 yards to fullback Andrew Beck. Before practice on Tuesday, Fields was asked about stretching the defense with passes down the field.
"I mean, we're fine with taking 8-yard completions every play," he said. "If I'm being honest with you, of course you want explosives, but as I said Saturday, we're not going to force the ball downfield if they [the defense] wants to get depth on the second level, we're fine with taking an 8-, 10-yard completions. And taking time off the clock and just driving down the field and having 10-, 15-play drives gets the defense tired. It might not be as exciting on the offensive side of the ball or for the fans, but as I said, it's efficient ball. It's also getting the defense tired."
Fields acknowledged that adapting to his third offensive scheme in three seasons is a challenge, after starting his NFL career in Chicago, moving to Pittsburgh last season and now to the Jets.
"There's a lot of different things that we do, some concepts that I've never run before, and I think they're really efficient," he said. "I think they're different. I like the concepts that we have. I like what Tanner is trying to do and implement with the guys on offense and in our playbook. So he's a great offensive-minded coach."
Without a doubt, Glenn has a great deal of confidence in his quarterback's ability to run the offense, spread the ball around the field, short and long. He again put an emphasis on the run game as the key to success in the NFL, as he pointed out with the Eagles, who he said were 29th last season passing, but were the No. 1 rushing team in the team. He put that in the context of the Jets' approach and Fields' limited time on the field against the Packers and the Giants.
"That's what practice is for," he said "You have so many people that want to talk about a small amount of play these guys get to go out there and play [in the preseason], and then everything is falling down because we throw 6 passes. Then he's Johnny Unitas when we throw 40 passes.
"So it bothers me, and I laugh at it quite a bit. But the thing is, I understand it, because that's just, that's the noise that happens on the outside. That's why guys can't really listen. We go out here and we practice our [expletive] off every day to be who we are going to be, and that's where my confidence lies. And what these guys do on the grass here ... and listen, preseason means a lot, it does, but for the most part we concentrate on what we do on the grass, because you get a ton of reps."
For Fields, it's not so much a sense of urgency as there is a sense that things will fall into place and practice makes perfect ahead of the regular-season opener against visiting Pittsburgh on Sept. 7.
Asked when the training camp mindset would give way for preparation for the regular season opener vs. the Steelers, Fields said: "Personally, probably later this week."
