The New York Jets are finally getting some encouraging news on the injury front, and it could come at just the right time for an offense that has spent most of the year limping along.
Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell and left guard Dylan Parham will be limited in practice, according to Aaron Glenn, and Mitchell’s Week 7 status against the Miami Dolphins will hinge on “pain tolerance.” Running back Breece Hall, though, is headed in the other direction. He will not practice today, which makes him a much tougher bet to play on Sunday.
That’s a meaningful shift for a unit that has been patched together almost from the jump. The Jets just got tight end Mason Taylor and rookie receiver Omar Cooper Jr. back from injuries, but the bigger issue has been availability across the board. In a matter of weeks, Mitchell, Parham and Hall all went down, and New York has barely had time to see what its full offense looks like.
The number that tells the story is six. The Jets have played only six snaps with their full starting offense on the field together.
Cooper was hurt almost immediately, and then Mitchell, Parham and Taylor were all banged up over the next two weeks. Frank Reich may be nearing the point where he finally has the pieces he needs.
Mitchell’s return would probably matter most right away. Without him, the Jets have lacked the vertical threat needed to stretch the field and open things up for Geno Smith. The offense has played cautious football as a result, and teams that are prepared for that approach have been able to handle them.
Cooper’s return only adds to the possibility that this group could look far more dangerous soon. He just posted a 100-yard game in what was basically his first full NFL outing, and the Jets could enter Week 7 with three receivers capable of turning in a big day.
Parham matters just as much in a different way. Before the injury he suffered against the Detroit Lions, he was playing like one of the best guards in football. Even if he doesn’t immediately get back to that level, he still projects as a major upgrade over struggling ex-Las Vegas Raiders teammate Jordan Meredith at left guard.
Hall’s absence would be a blow, but New York has at least found a temporary answer in Braelon Allen. He has rattled off the two best games of his young career in a row, topping 100 yards from scrimmage in both the win over the Cleveland Browns and the loss to the New England Patriots.
The next stretch gives the Jets a chance to do something with this. They get the Dolphins and Raiders at home before heading to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in a road matchup few, if any, expect them to win.
If New York wants to make a push before things slip further away, the offense has to pick up. Getting Mitchell and Parham back would go a long way.
In Other News...
Jets Offensive Debate Is Getting Harder To Ignore
Aaron Glenn has backed Frank Reich publicly, saying the offensive coordinator has done a good job while the Jets work through a season defined by injuries and inconsistency on that side of the ball. The bigger picture is hard to miss: New York is sitting near the bottom of the league in points per game, red-zone efficiency and third-down conversions, a reminder that the offense has not found enough rhythm to support the rest of the roster.
The frustration is starting to show up in the broader conversation around the team, too, with multiple outlets placing the Jets in the NFLs lower tier because of how often drives stall once they get close to scoring range. There is still some interest in what young players like Omar Cooper Jr. can add, but the more immediate question is whether the current offensive setup can clean up the spots that keep biting them before the season slips further away. [Read more 🡒]
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The Jets have not won a Super Bowl or a playoff game since 2011, and the losing seasons have piled up in the years since, but this season has offered a few signs that the tide might finally be shifting. Whether the current progress turns into something lasting is still the open question, and the next stretch of games will say a lot about whether this looks like a brief uptick or the start of something closer to the Knicks late-arriving breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Glenn Had To Explain A Strange Jets Sideline Mix-Up
Aaron Glenn spent part of Monday explaining a small but notable sideline mix-up from halftime, one that caught attention because it came in the middle of a game day interview. During the break, the Jets coach made a statement suggesting New York would receive the second-half kickoff, even though that did not happen.
When asked about it the next day, Glenn moved quickly to clarify what he meant, saying he was speaking more broadly about the offense needing to sustain drives rather than the specific kickoff situation. The explanation was reported by multiple outlets, and the moment was brief, but it was the kind of detail that can linger when a team is still trying to clean up its communication as much as its play. [Read more 🡒]