The New York Jets received some good and bad news on the final injury report ahead of Week 6.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed some surprising news: starting cornerback Brandon Stephens is dealing with a “new” neck injury and is now listed as questionable for the Denver Broncos game.
Stephens wasn’t listed on the injury report for the first two days of practice. That means that Stephens injured himself somewhere between the end of practice on Thursday and the beginning of practice on Friday.
Stephens was listed as a limited participant in the final practice ahead of the game.
One Man’s Misfortune Is Another Man’s Opportunity
It is never a good sign when a player pops up on the injury report unexpectedly.
However, this opens up the door for one of the young backups to potentially get their shot.
“The backup corners are Azareye’h Thomas, Qwan’tez Stiggers, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr,” Cimini posted on social media.
Michael Carter II was already ruled out for Week 6. The talented corner is still in the NFL’s concussion protocol and didn’t make the trip to London.
Last week, Carter missed the Week 5 Dallas Cowboys game. That meant the newly acquired Brownlee got to make his Jets season debut.
Thomas, the Jets’ third-round pick from April’s draft, has yet to start a game this season. If Stephens is unable to go, he could be an option for the green and white.
Jets Receive Some Good News via the Injury Report
Head coach Aaron Glenn confirmed that both pass rusher Jermaine Johnson and kick return specialist Kene Nwangwu are good to go for Sunday.
“Looking forward to seeing those guys out there playing,” Coach Glenn told the media on Friday, October 10.
Johnson has been battling an ankle/calf issue that forced him to miss the last three games. Nwangwu has missed the last four games with a hamstring issue.
Johnson brings an edge and, as a former Pro Bowler, can bring some production to the defensive line. The defensive end fill-ins for Johnson haven’t performed up to snuff over the last month.
The Musical Chairs at the Return Spot Can Come to a Painful End
Nwangwu is a former All-Pro return man. In his first game with the Jets last year, he cashed in a 99-yard kick return touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks. He strangely didn’t make his regular-season debut until December, despite being on the team’s practice squad since September of that year.
This year, he was supposed to be the straw that stirs the drink for the Jets. However, in the season opener versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, he seriously injured his hamstring.
That forced the Jets to play the popular game show “Who Wants to be a Jets Kick Returner?”
They cycled through a slew of players, but most of them produced putrid results. Xavier Gipson and Isaiah Williams both had costly fumbles in the return game that resulted in touchdowns for the opponents in tight one-score games.
Now the merry-go-round can finally stop, and for the Jets’ sake, hopefully stabilize to bring some consistency in the return game.
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