The New York Jets pulled off a trade this week due to Breece Hall getting injured in the Denver Broncos game.
Running back James Robinson is expected to make his debut in Week 8 versus the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. The Jets were forced to make that move due to injury and they may be forced to make another move ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
Joe Douglas Isn’t Done Making Moves for the Jets
On the Flight Deck Podcast Rich Cimini of ESPN revealed there are some more bullets in the chamber for general manager Joe Douglas:
“Let me tell you this just from talking to people around the league, I don’t think Joe Douglas is done. The trading deadline is November 1, that’s next Tuesday. Joe Douglas is I believe still looking and I think possibly targeting an offensive tackle.
The Jets have some decent depth with Cedric Ogbuehi, George Fant, and Max Mitchell. Fant is eligible to come off of IR (injured reserve) this week, but I don’t get the sense that he is coming back this week. Quite frankly I think the Jets are a little bit concerned about his prospects for the rest of the year.
So I think you’re going to see Joe Douglas really try to get a starting-caliber offensive tackle. Now those are extremely difficult to find, but I think Douglas is looking. Trust me, he is looking. He is a very aggressive GM, we have seen it. I think he is out there looking for some depth because I do think there is some concern about George Fant and his knee injury.”
Oh baby: @RichCimini says #Jets GM Joe Douglas isn’t done making trades ahead of deadline based on league conversations, JD is trying to ‘get a starting caliber OT’ + NYJ ‘is concerned about George Fant’s prospects for rest of the year’ 😳: 🎙 Flight Deck Pod #TakeFlight
The Jets entered the season with incredibly questionable depth at offensive tackle. However, they discovered during the season that they had better guys than they thought.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit the Jets incredibly hard on the offensive line and specifically at the tackle spot.
Fant is eligible to return this week and Mitchell according to Cimini on the podcast is still a few weeks out. These new injury updates totally change the dynamic of where the Jets thought they would be at this point.
So with all of the injuries, the Jets will be forced to start Ogbuehi at right tackle on Sunday versus the Patriots. He is a former first-rounder but the Jets plucked him off of the Houston Texans practice squad. So long story short we have reached desperate times and those can often lead to desperate measures.
Incredibly Disturbing George Fant, Jets News
When the Jets initially placed Fant on injured reserve, which forced him to miss a minimum of four games, it felt precautionary.
This is the same knee injury that he has been dealing with since the offseason so it felt like the Jets were just giving him some bonus time to get it right for the long haul. Obviously with him not coming off of IR this week that isn’t the case.
Now after hearing the latest update from Cimini this is extremely concerning for not only the rest of this season but the future entirely.
It has been well documented that Fant is in the midst of the final year of his contract. The Jets were hesitant to give him a big money long-term deal this offseason because of his durability concerns and it appears they made the right decision.
There will be a lot of questions they will have to figure out in the future, but for now, it seems like the offensive tackle need has surged to the top of the list ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, November 1.
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Jets Exploring Trade Market Amid Major Injury Concern: Report