New York Jets rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq is going to miss some time after having hernia surgery.
Beat reporter Nick Faria of Jets on SI told Jake Asman that it is “bad news.”
“OTAs are not the end all be all but the fact that Kenyon Sadiq is going to have to miss essentially three to four weeks of on-field work, even though it’s not tackling, even though it’s not advanced stuff that you normally get at training camp, it’s still missing time with your quarterback, it’s missing time with your team. So realistically, it’s going to take a little bit of time for Kenyon Sadiq to really get his traction going on the football field. I don’t think it’s a wasted season, I don’t think it means his rookie year is going to be shot, [but] it’s obviously bad news for his early year development,” Faria explained on “The Jake Asman Show.”
“It is certainly something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks to see how he goes into training camp. Is he able to jump in right away and take first-team reps? Does he need a little bit more time to get up to speed? All this does is ask more questions to when we get to that point in July,” Faria added.
“OTAs are not the end all be all but the fact that Kenyon Sadiq is going to have to miss essentially three to four weeks of
You Have to Practice What You Preach
If the Jets selected a wide receiver with the No. 16 overall pick in April’s draft, it would have been easy to project how that player would get on the field.
The Jets didn’t take a wide receiver at that point; they took a tight end (Sadiq). Last year, the Jets invested a top-50 pick in another tight end when they selected Mason Taylor.
It’s going to take effort from the coaching staff to get both of those players on the field at the same time.
“Data shows that [Frank] Reich leans heavily toward ’11’ personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR), with a lot of shotgun and a lot of no-huddle. His play-action and pre-snap motion tendencies are surprisingly low compared to the rest of the league,” ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote. “Reich, like most good coaches, will tailor his scheme around the players. That likely means more ’12’ personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) to get his tight ends — Sadiq, Mason Taylor, and Jeremy Ruckert — on the field more often.”
If Reich doesn’t normally utilize multiple tight ends, that means he needs to incorporate it into his offense. How do you do that? Practice. What can’t Sadiq do for likely the rest of OTAs and mandatory minicamp? Practice.
That means Sadiq will be somewhat behind the eight ball heading into training camp at the end of July. Not ideal.
Jets Relying on Youth
One of the big missions of the offseason for the Jets was getting more help for Garrett Wilson.
They did that. The Jets drafted Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr in the first round and took Sadiq with a top-16 pick. Breece Hall got a fat contract extension to keep him here. At the NFL trade deadline last year, the Jets added talented pass catcher Adonai Mitchell.
That is a clear upgrade in talent. However, that is a lot of pressure on the young players to grow up quickly so the team can rely on them to make an impact.
Some young players are ready to go immediately, but some aren’t. The Jets are betting on youth, and they better hope these young kids can learn quickly because the team needs them.
Jets Receive ‘Bad News’ on Injured Rookie Kenyon Sadiq