There is one significant injury to watch for the New York Jets ahead of the Week 1 contest versus the Tennessee Titans.
Head coach Aaron Glenn revealed that pass rusher Joseph Ossai is very much up in the air for the season opener.
“Good afternoon. When it comes to injuries, I’ll give you guys a more detailed update at the end of the week, but for the most part, the guys that I said will be trending as far as playing will be healthy for this week, the same guys, they’ll be getting some playing time. The only one that I would say that is probably week-to-week still, which hasn’t changed, is (Joseph) Ossai. And again, I will give you a more detailed update as we get towards the end of the week. As far as this week is concerned, I’m looking for our guys to have a great practice. I’m excited going into our first week of a real game. Our guys will be ready, coaching staff will be ready, and we’re all looking forward to this one,” Glenn said on Tuesday, September 8.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini said on X, “Don’t expect him to play this week.”
Cimini also said last week that he wouldn’t be surprised if Ossai was placed on injured reserve. If the Jets were to pull that lever, it would take place before the season opener. Ossai would be forced to miss at least the first four games of the 2026 season.
Alarm Bells Sounded
Robby Sabo of Jets X-Factor told Jake Asman that the Jets “are going to miss Ossai. This is flying under-the-radar. Ossai brings a lot of balance to that edge room. Right now they have [David] Bailey, they have [Will] McDonald — heavy pass-rush guys. [Kingsley] Enagbare, the opposite — really stout, heavy run defense. I think [Braiden] McGregor is going to be in the rotation. He is going to get more snaps than Jets fans think.”
“Ossai being out is just disappointing because you just hate losing a guy in the last preseason game. I get why he was playing in it in the first place. He missed basically all summer, so you wanted him to get some game reps and be prepared, but it’s frustrating to not have him,” Asman stated on “The Jake Asman Show.”
This offseason, the Jets made a splash in free agency. They signed Ossai to a three-year, $34.5 million deal.
On Tuesday, September 8, the Jets released their depth chart ahead of Week 1. Ossai was listed as a starting EDGE defender.
He was expected to be a key cog in this Jets’ defensive line rotation, especially against the run.
Silver Lining to All of This
Losing any player stinks, but Asman revealed a potential positive spin to all of this.
“The positive, if you want to call it that, [is that] they’ve been practicing without him all summer. So guys should understand what their roles are because he hasn’t been there basically the entire training camp and preseason,” he said on the podcast.
Ossai was with the team throughout the spring. However, when the players reported for training camp, Ossai was placed on the PUP [Physically Unable to Perform] list. Cimini shared that it was because “he was unable to pass the physical (undisclosed reason).”
Ossai missed the first several weeks of camp before returning ahead of the preseason finale. Now he is back on the shelf.
Jets Dealing With Sneaky Big Injury Before Titans Clash