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The New York Jets won’t be getting the reinforcements they were hoping for coming out of the bye.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced on Monday November 14 that offensive tackle George Fant won’t practice this week and is set to miss his seventh straight game.
The Jets placed Fant on injured reserve back on Tuesday, September 27 after consulting with their team doctors.
George Fant Conspiracy Theory Runs Wild on Jets Social Media
The former Western Kentucky product had surgery in the offseason on a troublesome knee. That forced Fant to be limited throughout training camp, but the coaching staff maintained that he would be fine when the games started.
Fant started the first three games of the season but clearly didn’t look right as he struggled mightily:
- Three sacks allowed
- 47.7 overall PFF grade
- 42.1 pass block PFF grade
- 55.4 run block PFF grade
Heading into the Week 4 matchup versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets announced that Fant would be placed on IR.
“Visiting with doctors as part of the evaluation process they felt like it would be best for him to just spend these next few weeks to rehab,” Saleh told the media. “Get off the knee and give it a chance for him to get back his strength. So per the recommendations of the doctors that is what we went with.”
The move to place Fant on IR was described to me by a source as “precautionary.” As Saleh said, in theory, this would allow the veteran to get plenty of rest so he could attack the rest of the season with full strength.
Unfortunately, he still isn’t ready coming out of the bye week and folks are wondering what the heck happened.
On Monday’s episode of my podcast, Jets insider Will Parkinson joined me to preview the next matchup and to answer some fan questions.
A YouTube commenter asked us if Fant is “holding out?”
This fan suggested that Fant was milking his injury and was using it as an excuse not to return to action. Obviously, this is an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that will likely never be truly answered by any party involved.
However, to add some more context to this potential theory, Fant is frustrated that he was promised the left tackle job and had to surrender it due to a series of unfortunate events this offseason. That led the Jets to sign Duane Brown who has exclusively played on the blindside throughout his career.
With him not going anywhere for a minimum of this season at left tackle and Fant having publically stated he plays worse at right tackle, you can start to understand where some fans are coming from.
Especially since Fant is in the middle of a contract year. It would behoove him to sit out instead of potentially playing poorly on the right side and affecting his next contract.
Jets Fans Let George Fant Have It on Social Media
When that conspiracy theory was floated out on Jets’ social media, fans weren’t shy about sharing their feelings.
One Twitter user called Fant “soft.”
Bobby raised an interesting discussion point wondering out loud if we will ever see Fant in a Jets uniform again. That is kind of crazy to think about considering how important he was to the team during the 2021 season.
The Jets played him at right tackle, but an injury forced him back to the left side and he was a stud all year. This year more musical chairs and injuries have derailed a promising Jets run.
The Bobby question is something we discussed on the podcast with Fant set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Some fans are ready for Fant to walk out the door. If the Jets let them happen they will have plenty of questions to answer at the offensive tackle spot.
One fan is convinced that Fant is never coming back whether that is from a potential holdout theory or because he is too banged up to return.
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