The New York Jets got some good news on the injury report.
Head coach Aaron Glenn revealed on Wednesday, September 16, that pass rusher Joseph Ossai is getting close to returning.
“I’m really impressed with how he’s been moving around. So he’s getting really, really close,” coach Glenn said.
Ossai injured his foot in the preseason finale against the New York Giants. ESPN’s Rich Cimini noted on X that Ossai isn’t practicing on Wednesday.
In free agency, the Jets signed Ossai to a three-year, $34.5 million contract. He was present throughout the spring, but he got hurt during the gap between mandatory minicamp in June and the start of training camp in late July. He was placed on the PUP [Physically Unable to Perform] list in late July.
There was an initial fear that the Jets might place Ossai on injured reserve before Week 1. Had the team done that, Ossai would have been forced to miss at least the first four games of the season. That didn’t happen, which would seem to indicate that the team expected him back before Week 5. This update from Glenn is certainly in line with that.
Cooper and Fitzpatrick are likely going to miss a few weeks. Coach Glenn said “as of now” neither player is a candidate for IR. If they placed either player on that list, they would be forced to miss a minimum of the next four games.
One of the biggest losses for the team was Fitzpatrick going down with a groin injury.
“Yeah, well, we have other experienced guys on our team too. That’s the good thing about our team right now, and those guys have to step up. I mean [Andre] Cisco has played a lot of football in this league, and he’s been a damn good player in this league. Dane [Belton], as we talked about I think on Monday, how impressed I was that he can come in and basically play the same role that Minkah had of being able to play the big nickel, playing safety, and he’s an impressive player. Intelligent, smart, and he can take up that slack,” Glenn explained.
Other Injury Notes From Glenn
“When it comes to the injuries, we have four guys that won’t be practicing today, and these guys are basically week-to-week. It’s Kene [Nwangwu], Omar [Cooper Jr], Joseph Ossai, and also Minkah [Fitzpatrick],” Glenn said.
Nwangwu was dealing with a back issue that knocked him out of the season opener. On kickoff returns, the Jets have two players back to receive. One is Isaiah Williams, but they needed another to replace Nwangwu. Before the game, several new faces were catching kickoffs, but they ultimately settled on second-year wide receiver Arian Smith.
As fate would have it, the Jets didn’t return a single kickoff against the Titans. Every ball either went through the back of the end zone or there was a penalty that nullified the potential play.
Players to Watch
Coach Glenn said three players would be practicing on Wednesday, albeit on a limited basis: rookie cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
Glenn said we will see how these players progress throughout the week to determine if they will be ready for the Week 2 matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
The Jets could use some reinforcements in the secondary. Brownlee banged himself up in Week 1, and we haven’t seen Ponds have a full practice since the beginning of training camp.
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