New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields, sacked nine times last week, is hearing familiar criticism from fans and media: He holds the ball too long.
Coach Aaron Glenn defended Fields' style of play, bringing reigning MVP Josh Allen and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson into the conversation. Allen and Jackson, Glenn told reporters Friday, do the same thing.
"I think everybody tends to see who those guys are and understand that, and for some reason they don't understand Justin," Glenn said.
Of course, Allen and Jackson are more accomplished than Fields -- a combined seven Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, Fields is on his third team in three years.
Glenn, still looking for his first win, was trying to make the point that a relatively slow release isn't always a true barometer of efficient quarterback play.
For the record, Fields' average time to throw is 3.01 seconds, second only to Caleb Williams (3.08), according to Next Gen Stats. Allen and Jackson are 2.91 and 2.87 seconds, respectively.
Fields doesn't feel the criticism is fair, noting last week that his penchant for scrambling skews his release time. That's true, but nothing went right in the 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Jets (0-6) failed to score a touchdown and recorded -11 net passing yards -- a franchise worst.
They host the Carolina Panthers (3-3) on Sunday. Glenn is standing by his embattled quarterback.
"I know that's a huge topic that everyone talks about, but there's a lot that goes into that," he said of the release time. "When you look at the time he gets the ball out, some of those have been his best games, when he's holding the ball three seconds or whatnot. That's who he is."
In fact, Fields played his best game in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and his average time to throw was 3.53 seconds -- a league high for Week 1.
"I'm not sitting here saying that there aren't some times when he needs to get the ball out," Glenn said. "He knows that, he articulated that to you guys. We're going to continue to work on that as much as we can."
Fields admitted Wednesday that he has been "a little bit too conservative" and said that he probably just needs to be "a little bit more aggressive. I've always just been big on ball security and not putting the ball in jeopardy, but it comes to a point where you just have to find that healthy balance between trying to maybe fit it in smaller windows and just letting it rip."
He has yet to throw an interception, but he acknowledged some of that is due to a risk-averse approach.
This week, Fields probably won't have star wide receiver Garrett Wilson (knee), who is listed as questionable. Wilson has yet to miss a game in his career (57 straight starts), but he hasn't practiced this week after injuring his knee against the Broncos in London.
Rookie Arian Smith probably would replace Wilson, joining Josh Reynolds as the starting receivers.