It's early, but Justin Fields is taking command of Jets

New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields at minicamp on Wednesday. Credit: Ed Murray
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Justin Fields isn’t the kind of quarterback who walks into a building accompanied by thunderbolts and trumpets. He isn't the type of player who makes himself the center of attention even though that’s what his position inevitably leads to. And he isn’t the kind of leader who will yell and holler and get in the faces of his teammates.
“Well . . . " Fields said, contending that last part with a smile on Wednesday afternoon. “Maybe when I get in the heat of the moment. I do try to keep a neutral comport about me. But I can get riled up a little bit, especially when things get going on the field for sure.”
That hasn’t happened too often yet during his tenure with the Jets. He’s only been out there for a dozen or so practices, though, through OTAs and now this week’s minicamp.
During that time, however, Fields has grown in stature and regard in the building where he now reigns without having to throw hissy fits or deliver grand orations or even appear on podcasts.
It’s a very different type of leadership style than the Jets had the past two years when Aaron Rodgers played the role. It’s taken some time to adjust to. But as the players get ready to depart for their summer vacation ahead of a return for training camp in late July, it’s becoming clearer by the day that Fields’ grip on the psyche of this roster is getting firmer.
“I know those guys want to fight for him,” safety Tony Adams said of his offensive counterparts. “That’s the biggest thing. You have to get those guys ready to go to war for you. Those guys want to go to war for him. The personality? He’s laid-back, but you can tell he’s confident in his abilities. I love him. I love having him as a teammate.”
Added Breece Hall: “He’s real cool, calm, and collected, and he brings a sense of calm to the offense. Seeing how he works and how diligent he is and how he cares, he is trying to build relationships with everybody, and how he goes about his business, it’s been fun so far.”

Hall also pointed out another glaring difference between Fields and Rodgers.
“He’s young like us,” he said, “so we talk about all the same stuff, we can hang out on the weekends. It’s been fun to be around him.”
That fun will only last as long as Fields can deliver as a player. He’s still only 26 years old but is with his third NFL team, having flamed out in Chicago and Pittsburgh. The Jets gambled that they can be the ones to straighten out his career when they signed him to a two-year, $40 million contract and coroneted him as their starter before the offseason program even began.
Before he can start spinning passes, picking up yardage as a runner, and, perhaps unlike almost all of his recent predecessors, winning games, he’s had to get comfortable as the Jet everyone else looks toward in good times and bad.
This team has others who can serve as the so-called “face of the franchise” in public, from Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson to Breece Hall and Quinnen Williams. Internally, though, the quarterback needs to be the soul of the franchise. He needs to set the standard, the tempo, the agenda.
That’s what Fields has been working on these last few months. There are two playbooks he has had to study: the one for the new offense and the one for how best to act like a quarterback in New York. Both of those are new editions in the Jets’ library.
That last volume comes naturally to some. It did to Eli Manning and it certainly seems to be something Russell Wilson exudes involuntarily. For Fields, it’s still more of a conscious decision, something he has to push himself to do.
“I had a feeling when I got here that guys were looking for a leader to step up on offense and I was glad to receive that role,” he said. “You have to be your natural self, you can’t try to force anything. Guys can pick up if you are being real of not, or if you are putting on an act inside the building. I think the most important thing is just being yourself. Guys can tell you are being who you say you are. It definitely takes time.”
It’s an evolution. Fields said he has always considered himself a leader, but as a younger player with the Bears who arrived as a first-round draft pick that often came as an example-setter rather than someone whose voice carried over veteran teammates.
Last year with the Steelers he had to share that job with Russell Wilson, who is now the starting quarterback for the Giants. Fields called the dynamic in Pittsburgh “kind of weird” because neither player really knew who was in charge.
“Just an unusual role for me and Russ,” he said. “I don’t think we’d ever been in that same situation. It wasn’t anything crazy. I think it happened naturally and me and Russ, we both have respect for each other.”
Now he is with the Jets, where he doesn’t have to share the microphone, has the gravitas of a young veteran, and the clout of a front office that is organizationally committed to him . . . for at least the next two seasons anyway. That combination is coming together nicely for him and the Jets.
“There is just kind of a quiet confidence about him,” offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand said, echoing a phrase coach Aaron Glenn used to describe Fields a few weeks back. “A little lead-by-example, but if you could be in the huddle, there's some command there. He doesn't have to be overly vocal or outlandish and over the top with his communication with guys . . . When something needs to be said, he'll say it and they'll listen.”
“I think I’ve grown a lot,” Fields said of that balance. “Over time I became more comfortable stepping into that role and being the biggest vocal leader, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but really for the whole team.”
For his team.
For the Jets to be successful, that’s what they must become. Not Rodgers’ team (or former team). Not Glenn’s team. Not even Woody’s team.
The Jets need to be Justin Fields’ team.
They are getting there.