Justin Fields reveals emotional moment before leading Jets to first win

For the first time this season, New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields took the podium to talk to reporters after a win on Sunday.

The Jets made a miraculous comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals, 39-38, to finally secure its first win of the 2025 campaign. They were the only remaining NFL winless this year.

While Breece Hall’s two touchdown runs played a crucial role in the win, Fields’ efforts to keep the Jets in the game were paramount to getting the victory.

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Jets fans and even the team’s owner have criticized Fields all season. In fact, there was no certainty that Fields would even start on the road at Paycor Stadium on Sunday, as head coach Aaron Glenn kept his decision close to his chest until Saturday arrived.

After his redemption game, Fields revealed that the criticism and pressure to perform really got to him this week.

“I’m going to get pretty vulnerable right here,” Fields told reporters, via Yahoo Sports. “This week I found myself in my closet, crying on the floor, lying down. Not because of the hardships, not because of the problems. I felt like I was built to handle it… Yesterday I just prayed over and over and over, just a win.”

JETS OWNER WOODY JOHNSON CRITICIZES JUSTIN FIELDS, DEFENDS AARON GLENN AMID TEAM’S UNDERWEARING START

Jets owner Woody Johnson publicly criticized his quarterback’s play during the NFL’s annual fall meeting.

“It’s tough when you have a quarterback with the rating we have,” Johnson told a scrum of reporters. “He’s got the skills, but there’s something that doesn’t blow up. If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results around the league.”

Justin Fields and Azareye’h Thomas of the New York Jets talk to the media after the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on October 26, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Fields obviously heard what his employer had to say, though he referred to it as “external noise at the end of the day.”

“I understand that he is the owner of the team, but it is outside noise,” he continued. “The biggest thing was that my teammates believed in me and my coaches still believed in me.”

While Fields got his first win as a Jets player, head coach Aaron Glenn has been waiting for this feeling for seven weeks. Glenn also didn’t hold anything back as he acknowledged the Jets had the Bengals’ defense on their heels and proceeded to go for two-point conversions on back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

Without both being successful, we might still be talking about a winless Jets team come Monday.

But that is not the case. Instead, the Jets have “Victory Monday” and hope to build on their win going into their bye week now. They will be back on the field on November 9th at home against the Cleveland Browns, another struggling team.

Justin Fields of the New York Jets carries the ball for a two-point conversion against the Cincinnati Bengals during the fourth quarter of the game at Paycor Stadium on October 26, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

“It’s been a lot for me emotionally, spiritually,” Fields said. “When I was on the field, I was damn close to crying, not because we won, but because of God’s goodness. Everything I’ve been through the last week, everything we’ve been through as a team the last seven weeks, it’s been a lot of ups and downs, and I’ve had a lot of support from my teammates, from my brothers, from my family, from my family, and I just started with, yeah, thankful day. praying, praying like a madman, just to win.”

Fields went 21-of-32 for 244 yards with a touchdown pass to receiver Tyler Johnson before the end of the first half. Hall added 133 rushing yards on 18 carries with his two scores, while also throwing a touchdown to rookie tight end Mason Taylor.