The New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, bluntly took a jab at Justin Fields after the frustration of an 0-7 start. “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got,” Johnson publicly stated. “He (Fields) has the ability, but something is not jiving.” Anyway, now that the rough stretch has finally ended with a 39-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Fields has come up with an apt response to the owner.

Justin Fields called Woody’s criticism outside noise. “That’s outside noise at the end of the day,” Fields said in the post-game press conference. “I get that he’s the owner of the team, but it’s outside noise. The biggest thing was my teammates believing in me and my coaches believing in me.”

After a disappointing 13-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the owner addressed the team’s situation at the NFL’s annual fall owners meeting. Johnson was confident in coach Aaron Glenn and the defense schemes. However, besides criticizing the QB, he also said a lot more about Fields’ ability to complete passes.

“The defense is pretty good. If we can just complete a pass, it would look good,” Johnson told the reporters. “We’ve got to complete some passes. You’ve got to convince them that you can do something. Otherwise, it’s hard to have a game that you can win.”

Fields later addressed the comment, clarifying that it “doesn’t bother” him. He admitted that everybody knows that he needs to play better. And he did. As for his teammates, they had faith in him.

“It seemed like the world was kind of crashing in around him,” safety Isaiah Oliver shared. “And he just went out there with football in his mind, locked in, played a hell of the game and led us to the win.”

Now, while Johnson’s remarks may have been meant as motivation, they also raised questions about Fields’ job security and chaos. The 26-year-old came close to losing his starting role after Coach Glenn benched him in the second half of Week 7. It seemed that the coach was interested in letting backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor start, but a knee injury kept Taylor sidelined, giving Fields another shot.

Now, he made the most of it, finishing 21-of-32 for 244 yards, one touchdown, and no turnovers. This is one of his best performances of the season, and that too without his best receivers, Garrett Wilson and Josh Reynolds. The QB had help from running back Breece Hall, who rushed for 133 yards and had two scores on 18 carries.

It was only fitting, then, that Coach Glenn shared a few words of encouragement for his quarterback afterward.

Aaron Glenn defended his quarterback, Justin Fields

The QB’s name stayed in the headlines for days after Johnson’s harsh comment on his performance. Pressure like that, combined with a losing streak, can be tough to handle. But after the win, Coach Glenn seemingly took a shot at the owner’s previous comment to take a stand for his quarterback.

“He’s primed to be able to handle situations like this,” Coach Glenn said about the QB. “It’s so unfair to him, that he gets criticized so much… He’s the perfect person to be able to handle everything that’s been thrown at him.”

On the other hand, the QB also didn’t hesitate to open up about how this week has been tough for him “emotionally” and “spiritually” as he spoke about crying in the closet. The QB admitted the season’s stress and “ups and downs” had been heavy, but his tears came from the journey, the grind, and pushing through “adversity” to finally reach that point.

And while he did make his boss eat his words with that win, Fields made it clear he wasn’t celebrating revenge but the struggles and efforts that it took to get there. But this is the first win for the team. The road to success is too far for them. After a much-needed rest in the bye week, Fields and the squad will gear up to face the Cleveland Browns on November 9, Sunday.