Two days after Justin Fields briefly provided a major worry, he delivered only good news.
Fields participated in individual drills and 7-on-7s during Jets practice Saturday, a strong sign of progress after he suffered a dislocated toe Thursday.
Fields was stepped on and had to be carted off the field during that Thursday practice, but moved well on the field Saturday.
And Fields looked terrific in 7-on-7s.
He went 6-for-6, including a well-placed touchdown pass to a streaking Tyler Johnson over the middle of the field.
Along with Johnson, Fields completed passes to Garrett Wilson (twice), Xavier Gipson, Brandon Smith and Arian Smith.
He did not participate in full 11-on-11s, though.
“I thought he did a good job in the 7-on-7,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “He has a ways to go until we get him out there [fully]. We’re gonna make sure we keep the protocol going to make sure he’s ready.”
Glenn thought Saturday’s practice was particularly important — and provided a valuable test of his roster.
“Very, very critical day for us as a team,” Glenn said. “The reason why I say that, usually when you go through three days, then really that fourth day is the day when you have the two-hour practice. That’s when you start to stress the players mentally and physically.
“This is one of my favorite practices, it’s always been one of my favorite practices because of that, just to see how the players respond. I talked to them about it, and they knew exactly how to operate, they knew exactly how to respond, and I thought the guys came out and had a very spirited practice. Very happy about that.”
Will McDonald IV has looked terrific to start training camp and had another big day. His speed as an edge rusher is well documented and was his calling card coming into the league.
But on Saturday, he utilized his power with a bull rush to steamroll past Armand Membou for a would-be sack during 11-on-11s.
It’s a move McDonald did not showcase much through his first two years in the league. But Glenn believes he’s always possessed it — it’s just that his previous coaches haven’t brought it out of him.
“It’s coaching,” Glenn said. “Because he can do it. You said he’s never done it last year. Now you see him do it. It’s just coaching, that’s all it is.”
