The Jets’ 394 yards of total offense represented the sixth-highest output in the NFL in Justin Fields’ team debut, despite a high-scoring Week 1 loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
Not a shabby start for a team that finished in the bottom 10 in the league (24th) in total yards last season, with Rodgers at quarterback.
Now, the retooled Jets offense needs to do it all over again this Sunday against the potent Bills, who also played a high-scoring game — totaling the most points in the league — in a 41-40 comeback thriller Sunday night against the Ravens.
“We’re always ready to put up a lot of points, but our goal is to put up one more point than them on Sunday,” Fields said after practice Wednesday in Florham Park. “Is it tough to follow that? I guess so. I don’t really know how to answer that. You just want to keep improving.
“I think [defensive tackle] Harrison [Phillips] said it [best]. We’re kind of hoping that’s the worst game we play all season. That’s the mindset we want to have. … But I think this past Sunday was definitely a good way to start off the season, other than the loss.”
In Aaron Glenn’s first game as head coach and Tanner Engstrand’s first as offensive coordinator, the Jets also managed 182 yards on the ground Sunday against Pittsburgh.
That total was exceeded by the Ravens (238), the Commanders (220) and the Jaguars (200).
Fields scored two rushing touchdowns and Braelon Allen had one, with Breece Hall compiling a team-high 107 yards on 19 carries.
“There’s a lot of stuff we can improve on,” said Fields, who also completed 16-of-22 passes for 218 yards with one TD and no interceptions. “We’re playing an imperfect game, but we’re looking to be perfect. [Glenn] said that after the game.
“We’re looking to be perfect. We all understand it’s not necessarily gonna be like that, but that’s what we’re all striving for.”
Glenn also mentioned that “imperfect/perfect” mantra during his pre-practice news conference. But the rookie head coach is no longer thinking about the good or bad aspects about the Week 1 loss.
“Listen, our deal is we don’t look at it as, ‘OK, we had 32 points.’ We have to look forward,” Glenn said. “How do we consistently do that, and what are the things that we have to do as a team collectively to make sure? The offense doesn’t just do that by themselves. There were a lot of things that happened in practice with our scout team that allowed that to happen.
“So, we try to focus on that for the most part because we want to be consistent. We don’t want to be a flash in the pan where we’re 32 one week and 10 the next week, and I know that happens because there are some good defenses out here, but for the most part, we’re working to be consistent on all levels, in all three phases of this football team.”
Indeed, the Jets defense did allow four passing touchdowns by Rodgers, and since-released kickoff returner Xavier Gipson committed a key fumble in the fourth quarter.
But the Jets offensive line — with first-round pick Armand Membou starting at right tackle — allowed just one sack of Fields in the opener.
“Right now, he’s focused on the two other ends that he’s going to play against this week. But overall, I think he did a good job,” Glenn said of Membou. “He’s obviously very tough. He’s committed. A new word of a trait for him is committed to being a really, really good player, and the time he spent in the film room, the time he spends on the field, the time he spends with his teammates trying to be the best that he can be.
“You see that with him on a daily basis. So, I’m excited about that player. We’re all excited about that player. He’s going to be a good player for us for a long time.”
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