Justin Fields arrived in Kansas City with the intention of reigniting his career under the tutelage of Andy Reid after a rough 2025 season with the Jets that was marred by poor play and injury. But recent reports from mincamp paint a concerning picture for the former first-rounder, especially with the improved play of rookie QB Garrett Nussmeier.

The Athletic’s Jeese Newell shared his mini-camp observations in a recently published mailbag.

“Fields’ passing hasn’t been great so far. During earlier practices in particular, Fields sailed quite a few throws, though he seemed to settle down a bit in later workouts. It’s still very early, but to this point, seventh-round rookie Garrett Nussmeier has been a better and more accurate passer in drills — to my untrained eye — than Fields.” Newell wrote.

It’s a significant observation as Fields comes to the Chiefs with plenty of starting experience from his time with the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Jets in his five seasons in the league. The Chiefs acquired Fields earlier this offseason from the Jets in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick. Kansas City is paying him $3 million this season. Andy Reid was clear that he viewed Fields as the primary backup option behind Mahomes at the time of the trade.

“We know we’ve got a legitimate backup there that can go win games for us,” Reid said to reporters at the league’s annual meetings in Arizona. “I like his game. He can do the dropback game. He can do the movement stuff, play-action, whether it’s a naked or sprint-out game. He has that whole package that he can do. He understands the screen game and how to set it up.”

Newell, in his mailbag, also mentioned that the mincamp practices neutered Fields’ best abilities.

“The recent non-padded practices open to reporters serve as de facto passing camps, meaning backup quarterback Fields can’t really show off two of his top traits: speed and athleticism,” Newell wrote.

That context is important as Reid has a long and successful history of coaching dual-threat quarterbacks like Fields. He’s previously worked his magic with Michael Vick and Alex Smith, both of whom played some of their best football under Reid.

Nuissmier’s showing, according to Newell’s reporting, is also hard to ignore. Nuissmier entered the 2025 season as a potential Heisman contender and a future first-round draft pick. In fact, before the start of the 2025 college football season, ESPN’s lead Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr had Nuissmier as high as the 11th overall pick in his early 2026 NFL mock draft. And ESPN’s Louis Riddick had Nuissmier ranked as his Heisman frontrunner before the draft.

“I’m going to go with Garrett Nussmeier… He is uber-talented. He is simple, smooth, makes great decisions and is well-poised in the pocket. He is in control of his destiny, and I kind of like that.” Riddick said on ESPN’s Get Up.

Unfortunately, Nussmeier had a massive drop-off and a season to forget in 2025. Nussmeier dealt with persistent oblique and upper-body pain that affected his play and mechanics. He was shut down for the season after just playing 9 games. He threw for just 12 touchdowns in those starts, and LSU went a disappointing 5-4. After the conclusion of the season, Nussmeier was diagnosed with a spinal cyst that went undetected throughout the season. This was the root cause of the oblique and abdominal pain that he dealt with all last season.

Now with his injuries behind him, Reid and the Chiefs were able to draft Nussmeier with a lowly seventh-round draft selection, a far cry from where he was initially marked to go. With the talent still there, Nussmeier is a tantalizing backup/development piece for Andy Reid long-term.

Fields, on the other hand, is in a different place in his career.

Fields’ career is at a crossroads after a bumpy first five seasons.

Fields arrived in Chicago as their 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, with the massive expectations of being the long-awaited franchise quarterback for the charter franchise. He never lived up to that promise in the next three seasons. While he displayed plenty of athletic ability by rushing for 2,200 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns in 38 starts, he was only able to muster 40 passing touchdowns to 30 interceptions. Concerningly, his completion percentage in that span was only at a middling 60.3 %.

While he got another chance to start in Pittsburgh in 2024 due to Russell Wilson’s injury to start the season, Fields was ultimately benched for Wilson when he was healthy and available.

His next stop with the Jets held much promise after he signed a sizable two-year $40 millon contract with the team. The money indicated that they clearly viewed him as a starting quarterback and potential long-term option. Fields was ultimately benched after 9 starts for poor play.

Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, was also openly critical of the quarterback’s play in the middle of the season.

“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we’ve got. He’s got the ability, but something is not jibing. If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results.” Johnson said to reporters.

With his career as a starter seemingly behind him, Fields will look to Ried’s guidance to hopefully take the next step as an NFL passer. At the age of 27, he still has a bright future as a long-term backup quarterback or even a future starter, provided an opportunity arises, and his play has significantly improved.

As of now, it looks like Mahomes is firmly on schedule to start the season, as his rehab from his ACL injury seems to be ahead of schedule, as evidenced by his active participation in the mini-camps so far.

So, despite Fields’ recent passing struggles at minicamp, expect him to enter the season as the Chiefs’ primary backup entering the year. But with Nussmeier’s history and bright play so far, he could be an intriguing prospect to take that position from Fields.