As the New York Jets prepare for a crucial primetime showdown with the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, the team provided a best-case scenario update on their starting quarterback, Justin Fields.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn spoke to reporters on Saturday and revealed that Fields has cleared concussion protocol and will start this week. The news comes after Fields was a full participant in practice on both Thursday and Friday.
Fields was forced to miss the Jets' Week 3 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after suffering a concussion the week prior. Veteran backup Tyrod Taylor started in his place and performed admirably, but it was clear that the Jets missed the ceiling Fields gives to this offense.
The Ohio State product's last outing — a 30-10 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills — was a nightmare, but Week 4 presents Fields with a golden opportunity to bounce back and secure the Jets' first win of the season.
Justin Fields and the Jets can take advantage of a terrible Dolphins defense
The Jets’ defense has performed poorly to start the season and rightfully earned criticism, but their Week 4 opponent offers a clear reminder that things could be even worse. The Dolphins have the worst defense in the NFL.
Miami currently ranks dead-last in the NFL in defensive EPA per dropback, defensive success rate, dropback EPA allowed, and dropback success rate allowed. The Dolphins have also averaged a league-worst 32.3 points allowed if you're looking for a more conventional data point.
Miami has allowed opponents to convert on a whopping 52.6% of third downs in 2025, second-worst in the league. While the Jets' defense has been bad, no unit in the NFL has been worse than the Dolphins, particularly against the pass.
That should give Fields every opportunity to prove that Week 2 was a momentary misstep following his impressive Week 1 showing. Fields posted the highest EPA per dropback of his entire NFL career in the Jets' season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jets fans probably shouldn't expect that caliber of performance every week from Fields, but if there's an opponent that's ripe to exploit, it's this Dolphins team.
The Jets need Fields for this offense to function the way Tanner Engstrand wants it to. While Taylor might provide a higher floor, the Jets are never going to reach their ceiling as a football team this season without the contributions of Fields.
Thankfully, the Jets will have their starting quarterback back on Monday. And under the bright lights of primetime against a division rival, the stakes couldn't be higher for the fifth-year quarterback. Bring on the Justin Fields bounce-back performance.