Head coach Robert Saleh said he was getting his shoulder evaluated, but didn’t offer any further update. Brown’s status for the season opener Sunday against the Ravens appears in doubt, and the question now is whether it is a long-term injury.
Losing the 37-year-old Brown, a five-time Pro Bowler with a strong reputation for his durability, would be a major blow to the offensive line. George Fant, the starter at left tackle who was moved over to the right side upon the addition of Brown, could move back to his original spot.
The two options to start Sunday against the Ravens would be rookie fourth-round draft pick Max Mitchell and veteran Conor McDermott, who missed most of training camp with an ankle injury and didn’t appear in any preseason games. McDermott is practicing with the team, although he was limited in both workouts this week. So was Fant, who is nursing a knee injury.
Jets offensive lineman Duane Brown, working on a drill with a coach earlier in the preseason, is battling a shoulder injury and could miss the season opener.Bill Kostroun
“We still gotta do our jobs,” offensive guard Laken Tomlinson said after practice Thursday. “Obviously, the stuff going on with Duane, that’s for Coach Saleh to comment on. But I still have a job to do, so I’m focused on that right now. I’m focused on Baltimore.”
He added: “All of our guys I feel like I can play, everyone from veterans to rookie class. So we’re preparing like we’re trying to play and win a game.”
The Jets’ offensive line didn’t play well in the final preseason game against the Giants, but there was hope there was enough practice time before the regular-season opener for the unit to develop chemistry. But that is no longer possible with Brown’s status in doubt, creating more questions than answers a few days before the first game against the Ravens.
“Work is work, we have to come together and be tighter as a group and come out and grind every day,” Tomlinson said. “At the end of the day, every guy has to do their job no matter who is in the position.”
The Jets expect to play meaningful games “down the stretch,” and they think Zach Wilson will be a major part of their improvement.
Despite a knee injury that will likely cost him at least the first game of the regular season — if not more — Gang Green’s brass believes the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft is on an upward trajectory.
“Before the injury, he was way ahead of where he was a year ago,” coach Robert Saleh said Thursday. “I know that first preseason game, people put a lot of stock into those series, which is warranted, but that first preseason game isn’t even close to what he’s been showing throughout OTAs and training camp and the way he communicates even now that he’s not a part of the practices, and he’s just in meetings.
“So [I’m] really excited about him getting the chance to get back to the football field to show how far along he’s come. As far as the development and the course that he’s on, we’re excited about it, and we’re excited about his future.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh fist bumps Zach Wilson during training camp.Noah K. Murray-NY Post
When, exactly, the 23-year-old Wilson returns remains uncertain. He suffered a torn meniscus and bone bruise in his right knee in the Aug. 12 preseason opener against the Eagles, a game in which he threw an interception and was far from impressive. Wilson underwent arthroscopic surgery four days later and is still not practicing, though on Wednesday Saleh said he may not need a full two weeks of practice to return as he did last year after suffering a sprained knee injury.
When asked about that on Thursday, the Jets’ coach stepped back from that statement somewhat, saying that is a question better suited for team doctors.
“It has to do with the return-to-play protocol that’s assigned to the player once the injury has been diagnosed and all that stuff,” Saleh said.
One positive for Wilson is, by the time he is back, the offensive line will have had a lot of time together to jell. The group, which was reshuffled after Mekhi Becton’s season-ending knee injury — 37-year-old left tackle Duane Brown was signed, and George Fant was moved from left to right tackle — struggled in its lone preseason game together. Saleh is encouraged the unit will be more cohesive by the time Week 1 rolls around.
Zach WilsonNoah K. Murray
“We have time to get the game reps in. We’re having team competitions, so it’s not just going against cards, we’re competing against one another also, but we’ve got to get going,” he said. “There’s an opportunity for us to catch up pretty quick, and we’ve got about five, six practices left.”
The Jets’ roster is improved on paper. This year’s draft class appears loaded, and the defense looks formidable up front, without the issues at cornerback. But for the team to really take the next step, it will need Wilson to rebound from a rocky rookie season, and he will have to do so after missing crucial practice time.
“We’ve talked about him coming back at the end of last year and the jump he made,” general manager Joe Douglas said. “He was having that same level of progression throughout OTAs, throughout training camp. … I’m sure he would like to have that first series back in the Philly game, but he was getting back into rhythm and showing all of those traits and the progression that he had made in that second series, before the injury. We have seen tremendous progress from Zach.”
The Jets have felt good about their roster depth all summer, and apparently the rest of the NFL agrees.
There were a whopping seven players waived by the Jets on Tuesday who were claimed by other teams on Wednesday. It was the most players claimed in the NFL. The Bills were second with four players picked up.
The players claimed on Wednesday were: CB Javelin Guidry (Cardinals), OT Chuma Edoga (Falcons), LB Del’Shawn Phillips (Ravens), TE Trevon Wesco (Bears), S Jason Pinnock (Giants), CB Isaiah Dunn (Seahawks) and CB Rachad Wildgoose (Commanders).
Chuma Edoga during Jets training camp on Aug. 9, 2022.Bill KostrounTrevon Wesco during Jets minicamp on June 15, 2022.Bill Kostroun
The question now becomes whether the Jets kept the right players. Right now, it is viewed as a positive that the Jets have so many players being claimed by other teams. If any of these players become good players for their new teams, the decision to let them go by the Jets will look foolish.
Brian Daboll does not need a whole bunch of tight ends for his offense. He does need some of them, though, and the pickings are slim. This is why newly-signed Tanner Hudson has a real shot and why this game is important to him. Hudson has five career NFL receptions, and the other tight ends on the roster have a total of three.
Safety first
The back end of the defense is coming into greater clarity — the move is to youth at safety. Undrafted rookie Trenton Thompson (San Diego State) is a strong contender, and another rookie, Yusuf Corker (Kentucky) is making a push. Yet another rookie, fourth-round pick Dane Belton (Iowa), made a strong impression and will be on the field as soon as his broken collarbone heals.
Special skills
Darius SlaytonBill Kostroun
Once again, it is impossible to ignore the competition going on at the back end of the wide receiver depth chart. Figure that Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson are locks. Figure that just two stick from the next group — Darius Slayton, David Sills, Richie James and Alex Bachman. Something to consider: James and Bachman offer the most special teams value.
As the 2022 NFL season rapidly approaches and fantasy football drafts are in full-swing, we are witnessing an interesting draft trend regarding wide receivers.
Though running backs continue to dominate the first round, the next five rounds are seeing a massive uptick in the number of receivers being drafted. Looking at recent fantasy football ADP, we are seeing an average of 32 wide receivers drafted within the first six rounds of 12-team leagues, with just 24 running backs, and a combined 16 quarterbacks and tight ends.
This trend has seemingly made it more difficult to land upper-tier wideouts if you prefer to draft running backs early, but it has also unearthed a few mid-to-late round sleeper receivers you will want to draft.
Christian KirkUSA TODAY Sports
If you find yourself in need of a strong wide receiver in the middle rounds, take a look at Christian Kirk of the Jaguars. His current ADP has him just inside the top 100, which makes him a fantastic bargain.
As the team’s new No. 1 receiver, Kirk has bonded well with Trevor Lawrence and had a strong camp. Most overlook Kirk simply because he plays for Jacksonville, but with new head coach Doug Pederson implementing a proven and successful offense, these will not be the same old Jaguars. Looking back, at every stop as head coach or offensive coordinator, Pederson’s top wideout saw at least 120 targets and, when healthy, posted a 1,000-yard season.
If you need to dig deeper, then draft Isaiah McKenzie of the Bills in the 13th round. We all know Stefon Diggs is the man in Buffalo, but though most people assume a breakout season for Gabriel Davis, McKenzie is the guy no one sees coming. Last season, Emmanuel Sanders had the most snaps as the Bills No. 2 receiver, but it was actually slot receiver Cole Beasley who received the second-most targets. The Bills used an 11-personnel package 70 percent of the time last year, and with that unlikely to change, McKenzie should be on the field often. With Josh Allen’s penchant for hitting his slot receiver more, McKenzie becomes an intriguing target.
The receiver position is plenty deep, so if you see them coming off your draft board in a hurry, don’t panic. There is some quality depth still to be had at the position. If you can come away with one or two strong receivers in your first six rounds, you won’t miss a beat adding these late picks.
Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy sports advice, player projections and average draft positions.
There are popular trends that you don’t always follow. The Madman is notoriously averse to the soul-selling transition to PPR that has occurred across the breadth of the fantasy community. We don’t ever initially begin a draft employing the Zero-RB Theory. And we don’t care a lot for handcuffs.
But, we do have a bit more sympathy for that idea than we do the others.
In general, we like to pick at least four startable RBs in every draft — guys we can use in any given week. Only the fifth or sixth RBs on our roster become wild-card options, and often any handcuff-useful choices are gone by then.
Nevertheless, there are some RBs who just beg for a handcuff. And sometimes, we agree. But it takes a rare confluence of events: You have to draft a must-cuff RB, that cuff must be reasonably affordable, and there can’t be any potential every-week options available when it comes time to pick that cuff.
And those are just the criteria for our RB position. We also aren’t going to pass up quality guys at other spots if they slip into our cuff target’s range.
For the sake of argument, let’s pretend all those factors have been checked off, the planets are aligned. Here are some pairs we would consider cuffing, and why it likely would or wouldn’t happen in a Madman draft (for 12-team PPR formats):
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Top fantasy football handcuffs
1. Dalvin Cook/Alexander Mattison
The ideal handcuff situations are for your best RBs. Many times, however, if the dropoff in expected production by the backup or the decline of the offense in general is so steep, or there is no clear-cut No. 2, a handcuff becomes irrelevant. Hence, we don’t like cuffing for Jonathan Taylor or Christian McCaffrey. Cook is a different story.
You can go ahead and draft Alexander Mattison if you’re going to go with Dalvin Cook.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
He plays in a good Vikings offense. His backup is clear. His backup has performed in the past when needed. And the primary RB in this case has some mileage. Plus, you can wait until the 10th round to target Mattison. That’s the kind of handcuff bargain we like.
2. David Montgomery/Khalil Herbert
We’re not big fans of this Bears offense, and we’re not in a rush to draft Montgomery. But if things fall a certain way, he isn’t someone we’re avoiding either, so he could end up on our roster. If he does, we have a laser focus on Herbert. He averaged 13.5 in PPR over a four-game Montgomery absence last season. Even better news, Herbert is normally available into the 13th round.
3. Ezekiel Elliott/Tony Pollard
Zeke recently has had the look of an RB on his last legs, and his third-round ADP reflects that — we would rather have Montgomery a few picks later with a cheaper cuff. Pollard has been the more explosive Cowboys runner for the past year or two. The younger back has shined when given opportunities, and some of those come even when Elliott is healthy. Target Pollard in the seventh.
4. Cam Akers/Darrell Henderson Jr.
We have more confidence in Akers this season than it appears most do. He came on strong, really strong, for the Rams during the playoffs, despite missing virtually the entire regular season with an Achilles injury. He also dealt with separate rib and ankles issues in his 2020 rookie year. And right now, he isn’t practicing, because of what is being called a “soft tissue” issue. So there are justifiable health concerns. But none of these ailments seem interrelated. But if he can’t go, Henderson is the guy. Here’s the thing: Henderson is also dealing with a soft-tissue issue. At Akers’ current middle-third-round value, we’re fine with the risk, especially when you consider you can buy Henderson insurance in the 10th. The chances current ailments linger for both? Too low for us to worry about.
6. Travis Etienne/James Robinson
Robinson, like Akers last season, is coming off an Achilles injury. Akers’ recovery time was amazing; he was injured in Week 1 and made it back for the playoffs. So there is a chance Robinson, injured in December, can make his own heroic return for the Jaguars. And that would be great. For everyone except fantasy managers. If both Robinson and Etienne are healthy, it undercuts the potential production of both — since we can envision a split workload. So we’re rooting for some abundance of caution here, to get Etienne off to a good start so he can solidify his hold on the job, at which point Robinson becomes an ideal handcuff. Is that self-serving and sort of a grimy way of thinking? Absolutely. But it’s not as if we’re wishing actual harm on anyone, just, at worst, too much caution. If we get our wish, Etienne at around the round 3-4 turn and Robinson in the 10th make a nice pairing. If Robinson proves tougher than our evil desires, then, well, to be continued …
Travis Etienne is mired in a complicated fantasy situation in the Jaguars backfield.Getty Images
Here, we enter a new category of cuff stuff. These are potential tandems that are just too expensive to grab both, and/or we expect enough production out of the backup in normal circumstances that we just bypass the first guy and take the No. 2 as a fourth or fifth RB on our roster. We call this approach:
Just draft the second guy
1. Aaron Jones/A.J. Dillon
Sure, we like the Packers’ Jones. But we also worry about any RB who was out-rushed the previous season by his backup. His ADP has slipped in recent weeks from the late-first/early second round to later in the second round, making him a bit more enticing. But we would just skip him and take Dillon in Round 5 or 6. That’s how Just Draft the Second Guy works.
2. Nick Chubb/Kareem Hunt
Chubb is often drafted in close proximity to Jones. We like Chubb better as a player, but that is offset, and then some, by working for the Browns in a worse offense. Hunt goes a couple of rounds later than Dillon, despite more of a career track record for success. We’ll just wait on Hunt. But apologies to Chubb. We still think you’re great.
Betting on the NFL?
3. Breece Hall/Michael Carter
Hall certainly feels like the most potent RB of this duo, and reports out of Jets camp suggest the same. At the same time, it is not as if Carter has played his way out of a job. He had a fine rookie season last year, and performed OK on the fantasy front despite being in a terrible offense. We expect improvements on that front this season. What we don’t expect is for Carter to disappear. For this reason, we think Hall might be a tad overpriced in the middle-fourth — right behind Montgomery, who we would much rather have — and even ahead of Josh Jacobs, which we don’t understand. You can often get Carter in the 10th. At that price, as your RB5, as long as his playing time doesn’t disappear, he is almost guaranteed to exceed draft value.
Three takeaways from the Giants’ 25-22 preseason win over the Bengals on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium:
Sill Yeah!
How about David Sills? A mainstay on the practice squad the past three years, Sills makes plays every summer in camp and he came up big in preseason game No. 2. Sills caught Daniel Jones passes of 12, 20 and 14 yards on a second-quarter touchdown drive and finished the first half with five catches for 56 yards.
David SillsCorey Sipkin
Back in Form
Azeez Ojulari made his preseason debut this summer after missing the first three weeks of camp with a strained hamstring. It did not take long for Ojulari, who led the Giants with eight sacks in 2021, to make a difference. He induced offensive lineman D’Ante Smith into a holding penalty in the first quarter and looked spry.
Center of Attention
So, what happened at the center position? Max Garcia, a guard, started because the other five players ahead of him at center on the depth chart are all hurt. There were no center-quarterback exchange issues when Garcia was in the game. He was replaced in the third quarter by Will Holden, a 6-foot-7 tackle.
Joe Flacco completed 14 of 17 passes in team periods, with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion to Corey Davis. He was sacked twice. After 10 straight completions, Flacco’s first miss came on his 11th throw. One of his prettiest throws of camp was a bullet pass to wide receiver Elijah Moore on a deep out-cut.
Joe Flacco Bill Kostroun
Kenny Yeb-d’oh!
Kenny Yeboah, who is on the Jets roster bubble and competing against fellow tight ends Lawrence Cager and Trevon Wesco for a spot, dropped a would’ve-been touchdown pass from quarterback Mike White.
Caught My Eye
In one of his few reps, Denzel Mims had an impressive leaping touchdown grab from quarterback Chris Streveler. The 24-year-old wide receiver went up and over safety Elijah Riley and cornerback Luq Barcoo to bring it down.
Medical Report
DT Quinnen Williams (ankle) was not at practice. CB D.J. Reed (hamstring) participated in defensive drills. RB La’Mical Perine needed medical attention after carrying the ball. DL Vinny Curry (hamstring) returned to practice. OT Mekhi Becton was officially placed on IR.
Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza lived up to his nickname by unleashing an 82-yard kick Saturday against the Colts during Buffalo’s first preseason game.
The kick, which occurred in the waning seconds of the second quarter, went from near Buffalo’s 10-yard line to bouncing into Indianapolis’ end zone.
Bills rookie Matt Araiza booted a massive 82-yard punt that went into the Colts’ end zone.FOX
PHILADELPHIA — All that was ever going to matter for the Jets this season was the quarterback.
Zach Wilson was all that mattered. Everything revolved around his progress.
In his second season after a rough rookie year, Wilson was the linchpin to anything the Jets were hoping to accomplish in 2022.
Sure, there were a few dozen other Jets being evaluated Friday night in their preseason opener against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field — a thoroughly-inconsequential 24-21 Jets comeback win.
But Wilson was the only player who really mattered.
Everyone was waiting to see at least small signs of improvement from him between Year One and Year Two, and Friday night was poised to provide an early glimpse.
Nevertheless, a Jets season that already carried with it more questions than an SAT exam is in doubt, if not outright peril.
Zach Wilson is treated on the field after injuring his knee. Chris Szagola/CSM/Shutterstock
After the game, head coach Robert Saleh was careful not to be overly optimistic.
“I’m always concerned until you get the final evaluation,” said Saleh, who added the ACL is still intact based on first tests but said the MRI exam will tell the story. “We’ve walked off the field with very positive thoughts, and it’s been opposite. We’ve walked off the field with bad initial readings and it’s been the opposite. I’m just going to let it play out and we’ll see [Saturday].
“I just want to let it all play out and I’ll keep saying my nightly prayers and let’s see what happens.’’
Despite the fact that Wilson was in the locker room after the game (but not when reporters were admitted), the Jets inexplicably declined to make him available.
Last season, when Wilson injured his PCL in a game at New England, he was made available to speak to reporters. Clearly, the fact the team shielded him from reporters was a sure sign that the news is not good.
“He’s in good spirits. He’s fine,’’ Saleh said, putting on a brave face to it all. “A little frustrated, obviously, but he’s as good as you can be in the situation.’’
The Jets’ 2022 season flashed before their disbelieving eyes with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter when Wilson got up limping after a scramble and eventually fell to the turf as team trainers rushed to his aid.
That kind of sequence — the player able to walk for a moment before realizing the knee is too loose to continue — more often than not signals a torn ACL.
Robert Saleh watches as Zach Wilson is tended to after injuring his knee. AP
That would be the worst-case scenario. A Jets case scenario. Here we go again. The Jets are in crisis yet again.
Wilson had just completed a crisp 10-yard slant pass to Elijah Moore on third down when, on a first-and-10 from the Jets 42-yard line, he was flushed from the pocket to his right by Eagles defenders Tarron Jackson and Jordan Davis.
He outran both of them and was staring down Eagles rookie linebacker Nakobe Dean in the open field near the right sideline. Instead of just cruising out of bounds to live to play another down, Wilson tried to juke Dean with an inside move to gain a few extra (meaningless) yards.
Zach Wilson is taken off the field after injuring his knee. AP
Sometimes, great athletic ability, which Wilson possesses, can be a curse.
Something bad happened inside his right knee joint when he made that move and Wilson’s night — and possibly his season — was over.
When Saleh was asked whether Wilson should have simply run out of bounds, he quickly responded, “A hundred percent.’’
Within minutes, Twitter was alive with medical experts diagnosing Wilson’s injury after simply watching it on TV.
Zach Wilson throws a pass during the Jets’ first drive. USA TODAY Sports
There, too, were armchair general managers flooding social media projecting next-step quarterback ideas for Jets GM Joe Douglas in the event Wilson’s injury is, indeed, season-ending. Jimmy Garoppolo’s name began trending. One snide Twitter jokester even suggested the Jets acquire Sam Darnold for a second go-round in green.
Asked what the next step is if this is, indeed, season ending, Saleh said: “Can we wait until after we get the MRI results before we start talking about that? I don’t want to put that negative juice in there.’’
When asked about 37-year-old backup quarterback Joe Flacco, Saleh said: “You guys know how I feel about Joe. He’s a phenomenal football player. He’s having a great camp and he’s got a lot of juice left in the tank.’’
Saleh said before the game the plan was to play Wilson and the rest of the starters for a series or two.
“If they put together a good first series, we’ll call it a day,’’ Saleh said. “If not, we’ll just go out there and try to get a certain number of plays.’’
The first series, of course, was an abject failure with Wilson intercepted on his fifth play from scrimmage. Then Wilson made it through just four plays in second series — possibly the final four plays of his 2022 season.
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