The Jets can be shorthanded in Sunday’s matchup in opposition to the Buccaneers.
Go rusher Jermaine Johnson and broad receiver Josh Reynolds have been each dominated out in opposition to Tampa Bay by coach Aaron Glenn on Friday morning.
Johnson suffered a sprained ankle harm in Sunday’s recreation in opposition to the Payments and missed observe all week. The harm, based on Glenn, shouldn’t be the identical ankle by which he tore his Achilles tendon final yr and missed the ultimate 15 video games of the 2024 season.
Reynolds additionally missed final weekend’s loss to the Payments attributable to a hamstring harm. The Jets will even be with out defensive deal with Jay Tufele (sickness) and Kene Nwangwu (hamstring) after Glenn additionally dominated each of them out.
With no Johnson this weekend, that may probably imply quite a lot of Micheal Clemons in opposition to the Buccaneers. By way of two video games, Clemons has registered two assisted tackles in 72 snaps. He not solely hasn’t registered a quarterback hit, however Clemons hasn’t even recorded a quarterback strain.
Clemons additionally has a forty five.4 grade, which is the eighth-worst grade amongst move rushers this season. He additionally hasn’t been a stranger to penalties at inopportune instances.
In opposition to the Payments, Clemons was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty after hitting Josh Allen excessive on a third and 19 play throughout the first quarter on a move that fell incomplete. That penalty ultimately resulted in a one-yard landing run by James Prepare dinner.
Throughout the preseason, Clemons was concerned in a skirmish with a Packers participant and was referred to as for an pointless roughness penalty. Glenn has been decided to wash up the penalties this season after the Jets led the league in that class the earlier two seasons.
However Glenn is sticking by Clemons and says his position this week is not going to change.
“Sometimes when people, when they don’t see a stat, they feel like a player hasn’t done anything right,” Glenn stated. “However there’s different issues that go on within the recreation that we ask gamers to do, that once more, that folks actually don’t perceive.
“I will say this, we know exactly what we’re trying to do as a staff. Listen, everybody has ups and downs when it comes to playing, and the things that we are asking Mike to do, he’s doing a good job at that. Does he need to improve? Absolutely, like everybody else, alright? But we know exactly what we are doing with Mike.”
With Justin Fields additionally out attributable to a concussion he suffered in opposition to the Payments final week, the Jets will elevate quarterback Brady Prepare dinner from the observe squad. He’ll again up Tyrod Taylor, who will begin in Fields’ place.
Prepare dinner, a rookie out of Missouri, joined the Jets’ observe squad after he was launched throughout remaining cuts final month. Throughout the preseason, Prepare dinner accomplished 65.8% of his passes for 235 yards with one landing and an interception.
“He wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t confident in him,” Glenn stated. “I believed he did some actually good issues within the preseason. Pay attention, he’s nonetheless studying, and it’s a kind of issues, we’ve plenty of rookies that play on the sphere for us, and it’s no completely different than him being a quarterback.
“Obviously, it’s a more highlighted position, but he’s a rookie, and if it comes to him needing to play, he has to play, and we’re going to do everything we can to put him in the best position to be successful.”
