Report reveals 'No. 1 goal' Jets had for Justin Fields during springtime workouts

The New York Jets essentially bought a lottery ticket regarding their quarterback situation when they signed 26-year-old Justin Fields to a two-year, $40M contract that included $30M guaranteed early into free agency. 

For a piece published on Tuesday, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic detailed how first-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand spent portions of the spring working to help Fields make a major leap in his overall development as a pro signal-caller. 

"The No. 1 goal this spring was to get him comfortable with the offense, the schemes, the routes, the progressions — everything he needs to play fast, use his legs and make the right decisions," Rosenblatt wrote about Fields' experiences throughout springtime workouts. 

Part of that process involved Fields wearing a GoPro camera during on-the-field drills so that coaches could see what happened, "where he was looking, and how and why he made decisions on certain passing plays." Per Rosenblatt, "anonymous reports toward the end" of Fields' three-season tenure with the Chicago Bears "painted the picture of a quarterback who would look everywhere at the line of scrimmage but see nothing — his inner-processing was failing him."

The Bears made Fields the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, and he went 10-28 as a starter over his first three pro seasons before Chicago traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March 2024. According to the StatMuse website, only Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson accumulated more regular-season rushing yards (2,352) than Fields (2,220) among quarterbacks from 2021-23. That said, Fields completed 60.3 percent of his passes with 40 touchdowns and 30 interceptions over that same period. 

More recently, Fields guided the 2024 Steelers to a 4-2 record as Russell Wilson recovered from a calf injury he first picked up during the summer. Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin started Wilson from Week 7 of the campaign through the wild-card round of the playoffs, and some believe Tomlin always preferred to have Aaron Rodgers over Fields for the upcoming season. 

Fields is now in the early days of a fresh start with a Jets team that employs star receiver Garrett Wilson, Fields' teammate at Ohio State. If lessons Fields continues to learn this summer via the GoPro review sessions help him improve his "inner-processing" ahead of the Jets' Week 1 game versus the Steelers on Sept. 7, he could enjoy a breakout season while throwing passes to Wilson on Sundays.