Getty New York Jets rookie Carter Warren working through a drill during training camp.
A New York Jets rookie might not see the field in 2023.
Rich Cimini of ESPN said offensive lineman Carter Warren could “begin the season on injured reserve” in a column posted on Friday August 25.
If he is placed on IR before the 2023 season, he will have to miss the entire upcoming campaign, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said on “The Can’t Wait Podcast.”
Jets Have Opportunity to Play Roster Gymnastics
The Jets have proven this offseason that they’re all in on winning in 2023 and the future has taken a backseat.
Warren was banged up when the team selected him with the No. 120 overall pick in the fourth round of April’s draft. In late August he is still banged up with an array of ailments.
“He played 40 snaps at left tackle in the first preseason game, showing some promise, but hasn’t been on the field since,” Cimini explained.
During his final season at Pittsburgh in 2022 he missed nine games due to a left knee injury, per Dane Brugler of The Athletic. He wasn’t able to workout at the NFL combine due to that same injury and at the Pitt Pro Day he only did positional drills in the build up to the NFL draft.
If the Jets determine he can’t help out the team this year, they could essentially redshirt him by placing the hog molly on IR and kicking the can to 2024.
That could help them out immediately with roster flexibility which could open the door for a veteran to jump in his place.
Danger, Will Robinson!
On paper that sounds like a great plan, but as Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
That figurative punch in the mouth could come in the way of injuries for the Jets in 2023.
For instance, the plan was for Max Mitchell to redshirt the 2022 season as a rookie because he wasn’t fully developed. However, injuries to Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton forced the youngster into the starting lineup Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens.
“They pretty much have to decide, do we think we’ll have to play him [Warren] at all this year? Which if they have the historic bad luck that they did last year they might at offensive tackle,” Rosenblatt said on “The Can’t Wait Podcast.”
Rosenblatt said instead of placing him on IR before the year, the team could put him on the initial 53-man roster then place him on injured reserve.
If the Jets did that, he wouldn’t have to be out for the entire season. Instead, he could be one of the players that the Jets designate to return at a later date. Warren in theory would have to miss at least four games, but he could return at any point after that if the team chose that option.
NFL teams must chop down their roster from 90 players to 53 by Tuesday August 29. That means over 1,184 players will watch their NFL dreams be destroyed as they get released on the ritual bloodletting that is cutdown day.
The Jets have a few more days to figure out all of the logistics involved but Warren will be an interesting case to watch.