Next Man Up: Jets Hit Injury Bug Ahead of Week 7

The Jets were dealing with a few injuries prior to Sunday’s game against the Colts. Now, the teams’ injury report has turned into a two page essay.

New Jack City Banged Up

The Jets secondary was already banged up with Trumaine Johnson and Buster Skrine dealing with injuries. Things got worse on Sunday. Marcus Maye broke his thumb and will be out for at least 2 weeks. Maye was already coming off of a foot injury that occurred in the offseason, and he was finally hitting his stride after coming out rusty. His presence is felt heavily in the secondary, and now New Jack City will be without a key component for the next couple of weeks.

Doug Middleton will likely take over the starting job while he’s gone, as he did the first few weeks. Middleton didn’t play terribly during his three starts, racking 21 tackles and 2 passes defended, but he didn’t play extremely well, either. He let up a fair share of big plays, including multiple touchdowns.

As for Johnson and Skrine, the Jets will probably go the same route they did last week, playing Daryl Roberts out wide and Parry Nickerson in the slot. This combo held its own last week against the Colts last week, but Minnesota’s receivers are a completely different story. Adam Theilen and Stefan Diggs are no easy tasks to cover. It could be a long day for New Jack City.

Here is Jets’ lengthy first injury report for this week, including Robby Anderson: pic.twitter.com/0NcS6z9xyO

— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) October 17, 2018

Wide Receivers Keep Getting Thinner

The Jets got disheartening news this week, learning that Quincy Enunwa suffered a high ankle sprain and will miss a few weeks. Enunwa has been Darnold’s go-to receiver so far this season, totaling 22 catches on 43 targets through six weeks.

On Wednesday, it got worse. Terrelle Pryor (groin) and Robby Anderson (hamstring) were held out of practice. Their status for the game is up in the air, but things don’t look too promising. The Jets have been shopping for wideouts all week, and invited Rishard Matthews and Corey Coleman in for visits. Another potential addition would be Deontay Burnett, Darnold’s former USC teammate. Burnett is currently on the Jets’ practice squad but could definitely suit up for his first NFL game this weekend.

Other Injuries

The Jets’ injury report doesn’t stop there. Kevin Pierre-Louis (foot), Isaiah Crowell (foot), and Leonard Williams (back) all sat out of practice as well. If Crowell doesn’t play, the Jets would be down to two running backs on the active roster (Bilal Powell and Trenton Cannon). Yet another position the Jets are extremely thin at.

Leonard Williams is obviously a key loss as well. He has been on fire these past few games, with three sacks and plenty of pressures, including a pressure on the game-sealing INT last week against the Colts. His presence in the pass rush has been phenomenal, and his absence would be a killer for the Jets’ front seven.

Hopefully most of these guys can get healthy for Sunday. It’s not a game you’d want to miss, having going against one of the best teams they’ve faced all year. The medical staff needs to get to work, because the Jets desperately need these guys healthy.

– James Cunningham is a staff writer for Full Press Coverage Jets and covers the New York Jets. Like and follow on Follow @JCunninghamNFLFollow @FPC_Jets