The New York Jets will open up the 2025 season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Justin Fields will have a chance at revenge against the team that benched him last season. On Thursday, May 29, he was asked for his reaction to the NFL schedule makers putting that as the season opener.
“Uhm… that’s who we play Week 1. Wasn’t really a thought to that,” Fields said bluntly.
He was then asked a follow-up question by a media member, if there was any extra emotion because he played on that team last year?
“Nah,” Fields said.
Justin Fields does not have time for your juicy storylines #NFL schedule makers lol
When asked for his reaction to #Jets vs #Steelers Week 1:
‘Uhm… that’s who we play Week 1. Wasn’t really a thought to that.’
Media question: No extra emotion at all playing there last year?… pic.twitter.com/1h2V7rVpSz
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) May 29, 2025
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Fields Won’t Admit It Publicly, but There Is Some Extra to This One
Fields was the starting quarterback for the Steelers through the first six weeks of the 2024 season.
Inexplicably ahead of the Week 7 matchup against the Jets, Fields was sent to the bench and never returned. Pittsburgh got off to a 4-2 start, and Fields had already achieved a new career high in completion percentage (65.8%) and a new career low in interception percentage (0.6%).
This offseason, the Steelers wanted Fields to return to the team, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed on his podcast. However, the former Ohio State product rejected that interest and instead chose to sign with the Jets.
Now, in the season opener, he will have a chance to show the Steelers exactly what they’re missing out on.
Jets OC Breaks Silence on Why Fields Was Their Guy This Offseason
For the first time this offseason, the Jets coordinators spoke to the media.
“He is just a talented individual on all facets. He is obviously a physically talented player. Everybody talks about the running, well, the guy has an arm too, and he does a great job with that. Mentally, he is phenomenal. He has been absolutely phenomenal so far, and we expect more out of that,” Tanner Engstrand said.
“There is just a lot of things you can do with that type of player that is going to put stress on a defense and make that defensive coordinator stay up late at night as we get going into this thing,” Engstrand added.
#Jets OC Tanner Engstrand explained why they targeted QB Justin Fields this offseason:
🎥 @nyjets #JetUp pic.twitter.com/sutNOS78vL
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) May 29, 2025
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Engstrand explained that what he saw during the Pittsburgh stint and the end of Fields’ run with the Chicago Bears is “growth.”
“You just see some of the things that are starting to develop in his game, and then you look at that and go, that’s pretty good, we can do some things with that,” Engstrand said.
One of the biggest questions heading into the 2025 season is what this Jets offense will look like.
Engstrand has never been an offensive coordinator at the NFL level. However, he pointed out during his media availability that he has served in that role for nine years at different places.
“We wanna play fast, we want to be physical, we want to be aggressive, we want to be explosive, we want to be detailed, and we want that to show up on tape each & every week,” Engstrand explained his offensive philosophy.
