Jets Bring Back Former First Rounder, Lose $44 Million Pass Catcher to Injury

Heavy on Jets

After some time away, the New York Jets have brought back former first-rounder Takk McKinley.

When Haason Reddick made his return to the Jets, the team had to create a roster spot for him and they did that by releasing McKinley. He has now returned to the practice squad, the team announced ahead of Week 9.

The Jets added some juice with one move but lost some more with another. Gang Green placed veteran wide receiver Allen Lazard on injured reserve with a chest injury.

He will be forced to miss a minimum of the next four games. The Jets have a bye week in the middle of that run, but that won’t count toward the time missed because it is four missed games — not four missed weeks.

Lazard will be eligible to return for the Week 13 road game against the Miami Dolphins.

Jets Make a Flurry of Roster Moves Ahead of Houston Texans Matchup

The green and white got busy on Halloween with nine different roster moves.

“Buckle up” was the appropriate caption from the Jets social media team.

They cut veteran tight end Anthony Firkser. On top of placing Lazard on IR, they did the same thing for veteran defensive tackle Leki Fotu with a knee issue.

The Jets made two signings to the 53-man roster with a new kicker coming in, Riley Patterson, and some offensive line depth with Alec Lindstrom.

For the Texans game, the Jets made two practice squad elevations: defensive backs Kendall Sheffield and Jarius Monroe. After the contest, both players will revert back to the practice squad.

Kenny Yeboah was finally activated off of injured reserve. He got injured during the offseason but slowly worked his way back to full health. That should provide a major boost to the Jets from a run-blocking perspective.

Finally, McKinley was brought back to the team on the practice squad.

Oh How the Turntables Have…

Most Jets fans were pretty done with Lazard this offseason. If they could have moved on, many of them would have hit the eject button. However because of his contract that wasn’t a viable option.

So the Jets stuck by him because they had no other choice. Go figure Lazard has transformed into a viable pass catcher and a reliable target for Aaron Rodgers.

Now the Jets will have to operate without him for the foreseeable future. That puts the pressure on guys like Mike Williams, Garrett Wilson, and Davante Adams to make plays. Lazard will be sorely missed because of his chemistry with Rodgers and knowledge of the offense.

Fotu is a player the Jets had high hopes for in the offseason, but it hasn’t come together. The latest stint on injured reserve is his second one in just the first nine weeks of the season.

Fotu has been a big dud at defensive tackle and that has put the team in a tough spot from a depth perspective. Now they will have to get help from unexpected places to fill the void.