Ask any Jets fan, and they will tell you about the freak QB curse the team just can’t seem to shake off. No, seriously, in two of the last three seasons, they’ve watched their franchise signal-callers fall before the season, injured way before the first official snap. Zach Wilson went down in 2022 with a non-contact knee injury that led to surgery. Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles on just his initial snap of 2023. And now, as training camp opens at Florham Park, that same eerie cloud has returned. This revamped season, the victim was Justin Fields, the expected new face post-Rodgers era, reportedly “dodged a bullet” after a scare on Day 1. Head coach Aaron Glenn, leading his first Jets camp, surely didn’t have this in his bingo card. But now he has an update.

Justin Fields was carted off the field Thursday morning with a dislocated right toe from the Jets’ training camp. For a franchise haunted by early QB injuries, panic set in quickly. The team later confirmed Fields avoided serious damage. Orthopaedic surgeon Elise C. Bixby, MD, from NYU Langone, joined a New York sports host to break it all down. Her insight gave fans what they needed most: relief from anxiety.

Dr. Bixby explained that Fields injured one of his smaller toes, not the big one. That detail made all the difference. “Definitely makes things better. So in orthopaedic surgery, we call the big toe actually the greater phalanx. And that’s compared to the lesser toes, and they’re lesser for a reason,” she said. This adds up with the source who told ESPN that Fields is expected to be ready for Week 1 against the Steelers. The team considers him “day-to-day.” But now that fans knew that he would show up, the next question naturally became: how?

While Fields relies on mobility, fans naturally feared his run game would suffer. Dr. Bixby calmed those nerves with a fix. “You can also put some stiffer insoles in those shoes to stabilise that so you’re not moving through that joint that was recently dislocated. Small changes that can make a big difference and means that you can play on it pretty quickly. All right.” The message was god-sent for the team—Fields is good to go.

Jets head coach Aaron Glenn kept his cards close after practice. “Well, that’s who Justin is. Listen, I’d rather have a guy that I have to hold back than have to tell him to giddy up. So, he’s built like that; he’s a tough man. And I expected that anyway. Once we understand, got the diagnose of exactly what it was, I knew exactly how he’s gonna operate. That’s most of the gas we have.” Still, Glenn had downplayed the issue before the test results. He even suggested someone may have stepped on the QB’s toe.

Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason, with $30 million guaranteed. For now, both Fields and Glenn had a touch-and-go with disaster. “So that’s all good news. If you are a Jets fan, you got to be excited about that,” Dr. Bixby concluded. Glenn has medical confirmation now, but before that, the question was if not Fields, then who?

Who would have replaced Justin Fields?

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn finally gave backup quarterbacks some spotlight. “Glenn won’t speculate on the severity of Fields’ injury. He professes his faith in Tyrod Taylor. Also notes that Adrian Martinez has some familiarity with the Detroit system, now the Jets’ system,” Cimini posted. That small shift in tone gave fans a glimpse at the emergency playbook.

Enter Tyrod Taylor. Taylor brings 14 NFL seasons, 58 starts, and a Pro Bowl selection. He’s the trusted arm if Fields can’t go during preseason or early regular season. In Glenn’s words, “Very similar when you talk about skill set. And then the leadership ability, he’s been in every situation you can imagine. We’re all good.” His voice projected calm, but caution lingered amongst others in the league.

On the Locked On Jets Podcast, host John Butchko didn’t throw his support behind the veteran: “Fields is very, very talented as a runner. Tyrod still has some mobility in his legs, even as mid-thirties, even at 35, 36, Tyrod’s going to be able to extend plays, but I don’t know that Tyrod’s going to be able to break the 20, 30 yard runs consistently.” Justin Fields brings electricity to the ground game that Taylor, despite his veteran savvy, just can’t replicate. His RB-like burst is a weapon Tyrod no longer wields.

Taylor may have Glenn’s trust, but his own track record raises concern. At 35, the veteran passer has dealt with injuries throughout his career—concussions (4), broken ribs, and even a punctured lung in 2020. Despite his high IQ and locker-room respect, durability remains the biggest question.