Getty New York Jets tight end CJ Uzomah staring off ahead of an NFL game.
The New York Jets are set to get a nice boost ahead of their Week 3 home matchup versus the Cincinnati Bengals.
According to team reporter Ethan Greenberg, tight end CJ Uzomah will be a “full participant” in Friday’s practice and is expected to play on Sunday.
TE C.J. Uzomah (hamstring) will be a full participant in today’s practice. He’s trending towards playing against his former team Sunday.
Last week the veteran popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue and was forced to miss the Week 2 road trip versus the Cleveland Browns.
Things looked bleak earlier in the week as Uzomah was a limited participant during both practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday but things turned around on Friday.
Ready to Make His True Debut
Technically speaking Uzomah made his home debut in Week 1 versus the Baltimore Ravens. However, it was uneventful, to put it mildly.
He played in 23 offensive snaps but didn’t register a meaningful statistic. Then Uzomah missed Week 2.
Back during free agency Gang Green inked the big man to a juicy three-year deal for $24 million, but they haven’t seen any return on their initial investment yet.
That is set to change this week ironically against Uzomah’s former team the Bengals.
The former Auburn product is a Cincinnati lifer who was originally drafted by the Bengals back in 2015 and would go on to spend his first seven seasons in Ohio.
This past offseason he shook free on the open market and the Jets took full advantage.
Although according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the Bengals tried to swoop in last second to convince him to give up on the Jets contract he signed to return to Cincinnati.
@BoyGreen25 @T_Conk1 @cj_uzomah @nyjets Yup, the Bengals were hoping he’d go back even after he agreed to terms with NYJ. We saw a few of those this free agency but Uzomah was set on the Jets and the NY market.
Tight End Issues Galore
Uzomah hasn’t made any kind of an impact yet and his partner in crime Tyler Conklin has for all the wrong reasons.
The former Minnesota Vikings stud has played in 96 percent of the offensive snaps through the first two games. With those opportunities, he has caught 10 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown which is nice. What isn’t nice is his two fumbles so far this season.
Thankfully the Jets have recovered both of those loose balls, but a tight end fumbling the ball ever is an issue but twice in as many games is seriously alarming.
The good news is Conklin has taken full accountability for his issues saying, “I will get that s*** straightened out.”
Tyler Conklin said he owes Max Mitchell for jumping on the fumble yesterday.
“I will get that shit straightened out.” #Jets
The Jets made a rare decision to double-dip in free agency with an overall $45 million investment at the tight end spot.
Uzomah got $24 million first then the Jets threw another $21 million at Conklin.
Gang Green made that move intentionally because the tight end position is supposed to be super critical to the offense’s function under Mike LaFleur. I say supposed to be because last year they didn’t have the horses and this year there hasn’t been good execution.
However, there is a palpable buzz around Conklin that he could be a star in the making. Don’t count Uzomah out either who will be super motivated to face his old team on Sunday and show them what they’re missing out on.