Justin Fields has surprising comment about his benching

New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields had a somewhat surprising comment about the team’s decision to bench him.

Fields spoke about his benching for the first time on Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, the Jets quarterback said he did not agree with the decision. More puzzlingly, he said he was surprised by it.

“I did not anticipate it whatsoever,” Fields said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.

Obviously, Fields needs to maintain his confidence and self-belief. Deep down, however, he cannot possibly have felt that he was playing well enough to be secure in the job. At the time of his benching, the Jets were 2-7 in his starts, and was averaging a pitiful 139.9 passing yards per game. Some of that was unquestionably down to the Jets’ conservative offense, but Fields did not inspire a lot of confidence when he was playing.

Fields has now been benched in consecutive seasons by two different teams. He may see himself as a starting quarterback, but the number of people around the league that agree is likely dwindling.