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New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills.
New York Jets starting quarterback Justin Fields has been cleared for takeoff.
Head coach Aaron Glenn confirmed that Fields passed the NFL’s concussion protocol and will be under center in Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins. On Saturday, September 27, Fields broke his silence on suffering what he said was the first concussion of his career.
“I had an idea [that I would be cleared], but of course, with this concussion stuff, which it was my first, there are some days you feel good and some days the symptoms come right back. Right now I feel good and hopefully I continue to feel this way when Monday comes,” Fields said.
“This was my first concussion,” Fields confirmed. “It wasn’t scary, it was just different. Like I said, it was my first one, so I didn’t expect some of the symptoms. I didn’t expect them to be as bad as they were. I’m glad I’m well now and ready to go.”
“Migraines, sensitivty to light that was a big one, I couldn’t really focus like when I tried to concentrate on a paper, I couldn’t really focus my head would hurt a little bit. It was just small stuff like that, it was kind of weird to me,” Fields said when revealing his symptoms.
Fields Refuses to Let Concussion Change His Style of Play
“Not really, I have always had the mindset [that] when I run, get down and protect myself. I don’t think when you’re playing ball, you can’t think a different way, you just have to go out there and play ball,” Fields responded when asked if this concussion would affect his style of play.
It should be noted that the two hits Fields took during the 30-10 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills came in the pocket, not when he was on a designed run or scrambling.
Fields Confirms Insider’s Concerning Report From This Week
There was a lot of uncertainty around Fields’ return to play timeline.
ESPN NFL Insider Dan Graziano shared a less-than-ideal update on Fields this week that caused some panic amongst the fan base.
“What little information I’ve been able to gather leads me to believe that Fields’ recovery from concussion protocol hasn’t been easy, and that there remains a chance he could miss another game,” Graziano wrote.
Fields’ response to the media seemingly confirmed the difficult return process from his first concussion.
“Like I said, I felt good a couple of days over the weekend, and then on Sunday or Monday, it kind of got bad with the early symptoms again. It was up-and-down, like I said, it was just more of a day-by-day thing,” Fields answered.
Former Ohio State Product Reveals What Went Wrong in Week 2
Fields got hurt at the end of the Bills game, so he didn’t do his normal media availability post-game.
This was his first chance to answer some difficult questions about what went wrong in the blowout loss, where he had a career-worst effort.
“We didn’t play our brand of football, we didn’t execute well enough, I turned the ball over early, we didn’t start fast, and that is pretty much the moral of the story,” Fields said.
He was then asked if the Bills did something different compared to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Week 1, Fields had a career-best day. However, the following week, he struggled.
“Not really, I think they dialed up pretty good plays when we were trying to call plays. Like on the [end] around, they just so happened to call cat blitz right there, and sometimes that is football. Like I said, we just didn’t play our brand of football that day, and it wasn’t our day,” Fields added.
A Change of Helmets, but No Guardian Cap
The former Ohio State product has changed his helmet, but he will not be joining the guardian cap movement in the NFL.
“Nah, I switched helmets but not a guardian cap,” he said.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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