The New York Jets received some great news.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini shared on Saturday, August 15, “Positive news on the Jets injury front: NT T’Vondre Sweat (hamstring) passed his physical and is coming off the non-football injury list, per source. He will work his way back slowly this week and will be evaluated at the end of the week. A key piece for the defense.”
Sweat is listed at 6-foot-4 and weighs 366 pounds. Cimini has said on the “Jets Collective” podcast that he believes Sweat weighs even more than that.
Sweat Is a Big Piece to the Puzzle
The former Texas product entered the league as the No. 38 overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.
He spent the first two seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. During that stretch, Sweat started in 28 games and appeared in 29 of them. Sweat collected three sacks, six quarterback hits, eight tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two pass deflections, and 85 total tackles.
This offseason, he was traded in a rare player-for-player swap to the Jets in exchange for pass rusher Jermaine Johnson.
Sweat injured his hamstring during the break between mandatory minicamp and training camp, according to general manager Darren Mougey. On July 25, the Jets placed Sweat on the NFI [Non-Football-Injury-Or-Illness] list.
He got injured on his own, which means that it is an NFI issue as opposed to the PUP list.
“It is used for players who suffered injuries or ailments outside of NFL activities,” NFL senior researcher Anthony Holzman-Escareno explained.
Since being placed on the list, Sweat hasn’t practiced with his teammates in training camp.
The Jets Need Sweat
Gang Green couldn’t stop a nosebleed last season.
The Jets allowed 139.5 rushing yards per game in 2025. That ranked fourth-worst in the NFL, per ESPN.
So what did the Jets do to attempt to fix that? Bring in some much-needed Brutus Beefcake. Sweat was an elite player on the field for the Titans last year.
According to Pro Football Focus, Sweat finished with an 83.4 overall grade, a 74.1 pass rush grade, and a 79.3 run defense grade. Those respective grades ranked 5th, 19th, and 4th best among 134 qualifying defensive linemen.
Sweat’s unique size poses plenty of problems for opposing offenses. You either have to drive through him or around him. Either way, it has proven to be an effective problem.
He is by far the heaviest player on the Jets’ roster. The Jets made a concerted effort to get bigger this offseason in the trenches.
If the Jets can plug their run defense problems, that’ll force opposing teams to become one-dimensional, which should open the door for the team’s pass rushers to wreak havoc.
It all starts in Week 1 with a revenge-angle storyline for a lot of different players, but none more so than Sweat. Let’s call it straight: the Titans gave up on the defensive big man. If that isn’t extra motivation, I’m not sure what is.
With him being activated off the NFI list, he is one step closer to getting himself ready for the season opener.
Jets Get Massive ‘Positive’ Injury Update on 366-Pound Big Man