The New York Jets have lost one of their promising rookies for the rest of the 2022 season.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced at the beginning of his Wednesday, December 7 press conference that Max Mitchell was being placed on the NFI list and would be out for the rest of the year.
Jets Provide Ominous Update on Max Mitchell
On Sunday Mitchell started at right tackle against the Minnesota Vikings.
However, in the middle of the contest, he was benched in favor of veteran George Fant. After the game, Saleh said the reason he yanked him from the lineup was that he was “struggling a bit out there.”
#Jets HC Robert Saleh benched rookie OT Max Mitchell mid game because he ‘felt like he was struggling a little bit’ replaced him with veteran George Fant who was activated off IR after missing 8 games: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight
During his press conference on Wednesday, December 7, Saleh said the reason Mitchell is out for the season isn’t performance related:
“I’m not going to get into details on what that is right now.”
#Jets HC Robert Saleh said rookie OT Max Mitchell will be placed on the NFI list & will be out for the year + “I’m not going to get into details on what that is right now.” 😳
When asked a follow-up by a reporter if it was injury-related Saleh responded, “non-football-related” and then added, “I’m not going to get into specifics right now because there are still a lot of things we’re trying to sort out and for him.”
When asked if it was injury-related Saleh responded, “non-football related” + “again I’m not going to get into specifics right now because there are still a lot of things we’re trying to sort out and for him.”
Very ominous and odd.
According to NFL dot com, the NFI (non-football-injury) list is “used for players who suffered injuries or ailments outside of NFL activities.”
Saleh was asked if placing a player on the NFI list automatically made them out for the season, he responded that he “didn’t know the rules on that one, I just know he is out for the year.”
The former Lousiana product appeared in six games this season and started in five of those contests.
Jets Shuffling Offensive Line in Flurry of Moves
With Mitchell out for the rest of the season, Saleh announced the new depth chart for the Jets’ offensive line moving forward.
Duane Brown will remain the starter at left tackle and George Fant will be the new starter at right tackle moving forward.
Veteran Mike Remmers who joined the team on September 27 will be the swing tackle for the Jets. If an injury happens to either Fant or Brown, Remmers would be the next man to step up on either side of the line.
In a series of corresponding moves, the Jets have officially signed veteran Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to the active roster. A spot was created when the Jets placed Mitchell on the NFI list.
With the new open spot on their practice squad, the Jets filled it with Sam Schlueter.
We’ve signed OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to the active roster and placed OL Max Mitchell on NFI.
We’ve also signed OL Sam Schlueter to the practice squad.
With Mitchell being out for the year he joins a long list of Jets offensive linemen that have been placed on either IR or NFI:
- Mekhi Becton (out for the year)
- Alijah Vera-Tucker (out for the year)
- Mitchell (out for the year, was placed on both IR and NFI this season)
- Duane Brown (missed four games)
- Cedric Ogbuehi (will miss a minimum of four games)
- Greg Senat (back during the offseason)
Despite all of that the Jets are 7-5 and currently own the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs. We’ll see if this latest OL injury is the one that sinks the boat, but it has been impressive how much this team has overcome this season in the trenches.
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Jets Lose Top Rookie for Season Amid ‘Non-Football-Related’ Issue