The New York Jets aren’t expected to be at full strength in the wide receiver room in the coming weeks.
It was reported by ESPN’s Rich Cimini that Garrett Wilson will miss three or four weeks due to a knee injury that he re-aggravated against the Cleveland Browns. New York has played two games without him this season and is 1-1, with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals and a 13-6 loss against the Carolina Panthers.
On Tuesday, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn didn’t get into the details of Wilson’s injury. He acknowledged that Cimini had reported on Wilson’s knee and said to check with him for injury updates. Regardless, Jets quarterback Justin Fields opened up about the loss while speaking to the media on Tuesday.
“I mean it’s tough, but it is what it is,” Fields said. “Kind of like Cincy week, there’s going to be guys that have opportunities to go make plays. But, it’s definitely tough when one of your best guys on offense is out. But, like I said, it’s an opportunity for some other guys to come in and make plays.”
It’s tough to lose Wilson, but Fields isn’t wrong. It’s certainly an opportunity for other guys in the room to show what they can do.
In the Panthers game, Tyler Johnson was the lead receiver for the Jets on a day in which the offense wasn’t moving at all. Johnson had three catches for 60 yards followed by Mason Taylor with 31 yards across three catches. But, that also was the game in which Fields was benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor. That game, the loss of Wilson was certainly felt.
The Jets were able to make due the next game against the Bengals, though. Fields had 244 passing yards and Johnson again led the charge with 64 yards. The ball was spread around, though, with Isaiah Davis having 44 yards, Taylor having 34 yards, and Isaiah Williams having 31 yards, among others.
The Jets have a difficult test ahead of them on a short week against the New England Patriots. But, the Jets do have two more receivers now in John Metchie III and Adonai Mitchell, who should get integrated into the offense quickly. It’s a tough week because it’s short, but New England also is dealing with that as well.
Losing a clear-cut No. 1 receiver is never easy, but the Jets have shown that they can still win with him sidelined. Now, they will try to do so against one of their toughest opponents of the season.
With the bye week now here for the New Orleans Saints, now is a time to look back at the season and evaluate.
The Saints aren’t where they want to be in the standings. That much is obvious. New Orleans is 2-8 on the season, but is coming off a much-needed win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 10. With seven games left in the season, the Saints don’t have much of a shot at a playoff spot, but there will be things to watch for.
The progression of rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will be what’s talked about the most, but there are other positives as well. For example, Cam Jordan is having yet another solid season for New Orleans. Through 10 games, Jordan has 3 1/2 sacks on the season. Last year, he had four sacks in 17 games. In 2023, he had just two sacks. Realistically, this season could end up being his highest sack total since he had 8 1/2 in 2022.
Jordan quietly had a big day this past weekend against the Panthers. He had a sack and two total tackles. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it actually was the 125th sack of Jordan’s career. He currently has the 20th-most sacks in NFL history. There are only 20 players in league history who have been able to reach 125 sacks or more. Von Miller is the only player ahead of Jordan on the list who is currently playing.
Over the next few weeks, he has a chance to pass some more people in front of him as well. Right now, Dwight Freeney is at No. 19 with 125 1/2 sacks and Derrick Thomas is at No. 18 with 126 1/2. Rickey Jackson at No. 17 is the other guy who Jordan likely could reach this season as well at 128. After that, the next number to watch is 132 1/2.
Jordan is 36 years old, but he’s having his best season since 2022 and there are still seven games left. At the end of the day, the Saints keeping him past the trade deadline was the right call and we could see some history over the next few weeks.