GREEN BAY, Wis. — The hit that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers took on the final play of Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants in London kept him out of practice on Wednesday but should not affect his status for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
Giants linebacker Oshane Ximines sacked Rodgers on a Hail Mary attempt. He hit Rodgers’ throwing arm and forced a fumble. Rodgers could be seen flexing his right hand as he walked off the field.
“In the moment, you’ve still kind of got the adrenaline going,” Rodgers said Wednesday of the hit. “Once the adrenaline wore off and got on the bus, got back to the airport, got on the plane, I knew it was banged up a little bit but it’s gotten better every day.”
“He’s not going to practice today,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said before Wednesday’s practice. “But I don’t think we have much concern as far as game day.”
Rodgers said he spent most of the practice time doing rehab work on his thumb.
“I’ll try and get back out there and practice tomorrow and see how it feels and be fine by Sunday I’m sure,” Rodgers said.
Jordan Love handled the starting quarterback snaps in practice.
Rodgers is 3-0 in his career against the Jets but is off to a slow start. His QBR of 44.6 is the lowest through the first five games of a season that it has been in his career.
“Well, I think I’m playing as well as I can at times. I expect that typical stretch coming up at some point where we get really hot. Hopefully it starts this week. But I think that’s right around the corner,” Rodgers said, when asked whether he has played up to his standards.
The Packers are looking to avoid their first 3-3 start since 2012 in a game that pits LaFleur against his brother, Mike (the Jets’ offensive coordinator), and one his best friends in Jets coach Robert Saleh.
The Miami Dolphins have ruled quarterback Tua Tagovailoa out for Week 5 against the New York Jets, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.
McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s MRI came back clean but that it’s “too early to give a definite timeline” for when his starting quarterback will be able to return from the concussion he suffered last Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tagovailoa, who remains in the concussion protocol, was at the Dolphins’ facility on Monday, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
He is expected to be interviewed early this week in the NFL and NFL Players Association’s joint investigation of his quick return to the Week 3 game against the Buffalo Bills, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The league and players’ association indicated Saturday that their review is ongoing while adding they agree that “modifications to the concussion protocol are needed to enhance player safety.”
A league official told Schefter that the investigation is expected to last another week or two, and the results will be announced “almost immediately after.”
Tagovailoa initially seemed to exhibit concussion symptoms after the hit to his head late in the first half of Miami’s Week 3 home game against Buffalo, but he was cleared by a team physician and an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant to return in the second half. Tagovailoa and the team later said his legs were wobbly because of a back injury.
After the Thursday hit, in which 6-foot-3, 340-pound Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou slammed Tagovailoa backward into the turf, the quarterback’s hands froze up and his fingers flexed awkwardly in front of his face mask for several seconds as he lay on the ground in Cincinnati. He remained on the ground for several minutes until he was taken away on a stretcher and sent to a hospital. He was released from the hospital and flew home with the Dolphins hours later.
The NFLPA fired the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant on Saturday, saying in a joint statement with the league that they “anticipate changes to the protocol being made in the coming days based on what has been learned thus far in the review process.” Sources told ESPN that the firing came after it was found the consultant made “several mistakes” in his evaluation of Tagovailoa.
Teddy Bridgewater, who replaced Tagovailoa in the Week 4 loss against the Bengals, will get the start on Sunday against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — After sitting out the first three games due to a preseason knee injury, quarterback Zach Wilson has been medically cleared and will start Sunday for the New York Jets, coach Robert Saleh announced Wednesday.
Wilson, who practiced on a limited basis the past two weeks, is expected to take a full load of practice reps as he ramps up for his return — a road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Saleh was optimistic this would be the outcome, pending a confirmation from Wilson’s Los Angeles-based doctor.
Saleh said Wilson will “absolutely” start, assuming he makes it through the week of practice.
“He’s very comfortable,” Saleh said. “He’s in a great mental state. Everyone is comfortable with where he’s at physically.”
The former BYU star, drafted second overall in 2021, tore his meniscus and suffered a bone bruise on a noncontact play in the first preseason game. On Aug. 16, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Initially, it was deemed a two- to four-week recovery, but the Jets announced Sept. 7 — four days before the opener — that Wilson would return Week 4 at the earliest.
The Jets went 1-2 during Wilson’s absence, with Joe Flacco leading them to a stunning comeback victory over the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. Flacco is fifth in passing yards (901), but he has led the offense to only five touchdowns in three games, including two in the final 1:22 of the Cleveland miracle.
“It’s exciting to get him back out there,” Saleh said. “But at the same time, it’s not all about Zach. It’s making sure we’re executing on all cylinders.”
Wilson returns to a unit that has struggled to protect the passer — allowing nine sacks. Left tackle George Fant (knee) was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, meaning career backup Conor McDermott likely will get the nod in his place. McDermott, re-signed after being cut at the end of the preseason, struggled mightily in last week’s 27-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Saleh said the unsettled situation at tackle didn’t cause any hesitation in returning to Wilson.
“His knee is 100 percent,” Saleh said. “As far as the tackles are concerned, we’ve got all the faith in the world in the guys we do have. Max [Mitchell] is playing really well, and McDermott has played a lot of good football.”
The Jets face a Pittsburgh defense known for its exotic pressure packages, but it hasn’t been the same without elite pass-rusher T.J. Watt (torn pectoral muscle), who was placed on IR Sept. 15. The Steelers are 0-6 without Watt, dating to his rookie season in 2017.
Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is expected to miss the remainder of the NFL season after suffering an injury to his quadriceps tendon in the team’s opener, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Seahawks placed Adams on injured reserve on Thursday and signed defensive back Teez Tabor off the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad to take his place on their 53-man roster.
Adams and the Seahawks believed the three-time Pro Bowl selection was in for a bounce-back campaign after a disappointing 2021 season in which he was held without a sack in 12 games. But any chance of that ended in the second quarter of Seattle’s 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday night when Adams was carted off the field after he was hurt while blitzing former teammate Russell Wilson.
Coach Pete Carroll called it a “serious” injury postgame and said on his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710 AM on Tuesday morning that Adams would “have to get some work on that,” though he stopped short of declaring then that Adams’ season was over.
NFL Network first reported Thursday that Adams would have season-ending surgery.
Adams limped off the field in obvious pain, heavily favoring his left leg, after delivering pressure and a hit on Wilson that helped force a third-down incompletion. After being examined in the medical tent, he was helped onto an injury cart. Adams was visibly upset, at one point appearing to burst out in frustration, as he was driven into the locker room.
Carroll has said the injury is to Adams’ quadriceps tendon, which attaches the quad muscle to the top of the kneecap.
“The fact that he is such a heartthrob about the game of football, he loves playing and he just can’t deal with it right now about ‘how could this keep happening?'” Carroll said on his radio show. “It was good he had his mom and dad in the locker room really during the game when he was in there to kind of help him through it and all that, but it was really tough. So I hope everybody sends the love to him.”
Adams had three tackles and defended a pass before his injury. Josh Jones replaced him for the rest of the game. Seattle also has Ryan Neal as a safety option. Neal made four starts in 2020 while Adams was sidelined by a groin injury. Tabor, 26, played safety last season with the Chicago Bears under defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who’s now on Seattle’s defensive staff.
Adams missed only two games over his first three seasons with the New York Jets but then missed nine games over his first two seasons with the Seahawks — four in 2020 and the final five last season after he suffered another torn shoulder labrum that required surgery. Adams missed time early in training camp this summer after rebreaking the middle finger on his left hand, another injury he has dealt with in the past. He had finger surgeries in each of the past two offseasons.
Adams and the Seahawks were hoping that Seattle’s new defense — with its emphasis on split-safety looks — would put him in position for a bounce-back. During his stellar debut season in Seattle in 2020, Adams set the NFL record for sacks by a defensive back with 9.5, earning him his third straight Pro Bowl nod. But then came his zero-sack 2021 season, which ended after 12 games when he retore his shoulder labrum.
Speaking last week for the first time since his latest finger injury, Adams said Seattle’s new defense puts him “in position to make plays.”
“I’m back in my element, man,” he said. “I feel like I’m back playing defense.”
The Seahawks acquired Adams from the Jets in 2020 for a package that included first-round picks in 2021 and 2022. They signed him to a four-year, $70 million extension last summer that made him the NFL’s highest-paid safety at that time.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York fans chanted Mike White’s name during Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Ravens, but the Jets aren’t planning a quarterback change for Week 2.
Veteran Joe Flacco, who replaced injured Zach Wilson, will start Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, a source told ESPN.
Jets coach Robert Saleh indicated Monday that Flacco would “likely” start the game, but he created some doubt by saying all positions were under review. A source said the Jets never seriously considered benching Flacco for the popular White, who became a fan favorite with a 405-yard passing performance last season in an upset of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Flacco, 37, struggled against the Ravens, as the Jets didn’t score a touchdown until the final minute of the game. His lack of mobility was glaring, as he was sacked three times, hit 11 times and pressured 19 times, according to Next Gen Stats data.
Flacco completed 37 of 59 passes for 307 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In fairness, the run-pass balance was out of line, as the Jets called 62 pass plays out of 79 total plays. The former Super Bowl MVP also played behind a reshuffled offensive line, with George Fant returning to left tackle and rookie Max Mitchell starting at right tackle. Those changes were made last week due to a shoulder injury to left tackle Duane Brown, who was placed on injured reserve.
Wilson, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 16, is expected to miss at least two more games. He’s still not practicing but will do some light individual drills this week.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Stung by injuries in the preseason, the New York Jets will be without left tackle Duane Brown for their opener Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium.
Brown, 37, who signed a two-year, $20 million contract Aug. 15 to replace the injured Mekhi Becton (out for the season), suffered a shoulder injury in Monday’s practice and could be headed to injured reserve, according to coach Robert Saleh.
The Jets are evaluating test results and soon will make a decision on whether to place Brown on IR, which would sideline him for a minimum of four games.
The news comes only two days after the Jets announced that quarterback Zach Wilson will miss at least the first three games as he continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery. Early in training camp, Becton injured his right knee in practice, requiring surgery.
Brown’s injury forces yet another shuffling of the tackle positions, hardly an ideal situation with the opener so close.
Right tackle George Fant, who began camp at left tackle, will move back to that position. Until this week, he hadn’t practiced there since the first week of August, but it’s his natural position and it should be a relatively seamless transition.
“I’m sure it’s frustrating for George — everyone just wants to settle into their job — but credit to George,” Saleh said. “He’s an uber-athlete, he’s got great versatility and he’s always been a team-guy first. … Him going to the left side this week, he’s making it very easy for this transition to happen.”
The big question is right tackle. Rookie Max Mitchell, a fourth-round pick from Louisiana, will get the start. Ordinarily, it would’ve gone to career backup Conor McDermott, but he missed the preseason because of an ankle injury. McDermott practiced this week on a limited basis, but he is bound to be rusty.
Mitchell was drafted as a developmental prospect, and the plan was to have him gain seasoning for a year on the bench. The plan changed. He got a lot of work in the preseason (a team-high 117 offensive snaps among the linemen) and the coaches evidently feel comfortable with him in the lineup.
The concern with the 6-foot-6 Mitchell, listed at only 307 pounds, is that he lacks the girth to handle powerful pass rushers. His first assignment will be Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell, a six-time Pro Bowl selection.
“Max is much further along than we thought he’d be at this point,” Saleh said. “We’re very confident he’ll be able to step in and do his job.”
Brown had been a durable player in recent years for the Seattle Seahawks — no missed games in 2020 and 2021 — but he was a risky acquisition because of his age. The Jets brought him along slowly, allowing him several days of conditioning before clearing him to practice. He wound up participating in only a handful of practices and one preseason game before getting hurt.
“The guy moves around like he’s 29, so he’s got a lot of life left in his body,” Saleh said. “You can always play the hindsight game, but with Duane there were no indicators.”
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson will miss at least three games as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery, the team announced Wednesday.
Initially, he was expected to miss one or two games. Explaining the decision, coach Robert Saleh said Wilson won’t play until Week 4 “at the earliest.” The Jets face the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road that week.
This means the Jets will open the season with Joe Flacco at quarterback, starting Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens — the team that drafted him in 2008 — at MetLife Stadium.
“We’re going to make sure mind and body are 100% and make sure we do right by him,” Saleh said of Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021.
Saleh also said that playing Wilson now is “not worth the risk. There’s the knee element. There’s the mind element. There’s the practice element. There are a whole lot of things other than the knee.”
Wilson hasn’t suffered a setback, according to Saleh.
On Monday, Saleh left open the possibility of starting Wilson, saying the second-year quarterback “looked good” in a side workout that day. In truth, Wilson never was a serious option. That was only gamesmanship. He’s only 22 days removed from arthroscopic knee surgery and still hasn’t practiced with the team.
At the time of the diagnosis — the injury occurred Aug. 12 in a preseason game — it was deemed a two- to four-week injury, sources said. Wilson suffered a meniscus tear and a bone bruise on a noncontact play, the same knee he sprained last season – a four-week, non-surgical injury.
Saleh has said on multiple occasions that Wilson will return to the lineup as soon as he’s healthy. He has missed 13 practices and two preseason games.
They could have placed him on short-term injured reserve, which would have sidelined him for four games, but they opted against that option because they want him to be able to practice while he recovers. He won’t practice this week.
Flacco hasn’t started a season opener since 2019, his first and only season with the Denver Broncos. This matchup probably has special meaning because he will face the team that drafted him in 2008, the team he quarterbacked to a Super Bowl title after the 2012 season. He was replaced late in the 2018 season by the Ravens’ current starter, Lamar Jackson.
Flacco has lost seven straight starts, the last five with the Jets and the first two with the Broncos. His most recent win as a starter was Oct. 13, 2019, for the Broncos. He played well in his only start last season, throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Miami Dolphins.
This will be Flacco’s first game against the Ravens, who traded him to Denver after the 2018 season.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Frustrated with his lack of opportunities, New York Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims — a 2020 second-round pick — informed the team Thursday that he wants to be traded, his agent said in a statement.
This had been building for weeks. Mims’ agent, Ron Slavin, met Aug. 6 with general manager Joe Douglas to express concerns. Mims also has shared strong feelings with coach Robert Saleh in private meetings at training camp, sources said.
“It’s just time,” Slavin said. “Denzel has tried in good faith, but it is clear he does not have a future with the Jets. Denzel vowed to come back better than ever this season and he worked extremely hard in the offseason to make that happen. Still, he has been given very few opportunities to work with the starting offense and get into a groove with them.
“We feel at this point a trade is our only option since the Jets have repeatedly told us they will not be releasing him. Joe Douglas has always done right by Denzel and we trust that he will make every effort to find him a new home where he can be a contributor.”
It has been a rocky run with the Jets.
After showing promise as a rookie under the previous coaching staff (23 catches for 357 yards in nine games), Mims has been riding the bench. He has battled illnesses and injuries, but he also hasn’t been embraced by the current staff, which wanted him to improve his grasp of the playbook.
He played only 11 games last season and finished with just eight catches for 133 yards. He has yet to score an NFL touchdown. The Jets said he came to training camp with a renewed commitment, yet he has been relegated to second- and third-team duty.
In the preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, Mims was the seventh receiver to get in the game. He’s tied for the team lead in preseason receptions (five catches for 68 yards), but he also has a drop and a pre-snap penalty.
Just recently, Mims made it clear he deserves a starting position, saying, “I show it every day, so it’s up to them if they want to play me or not. But I show every day what I can do. I’m going to continue to do that.”
Saleh said recently that Mims is “a lot farther along than he was a year ago,” but he’s no better than sixth on the depth chart. Ahead of him are Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, rookie Garrett Wilson, Braxton Berrios and Jeff Smith, a strong special teams player.
Since drafting Mims, a big-play receiver at Baylor, the Jets have used a first-round pick on Wilson and a second-round pick on Moore — strong indications that Mims doesn’t figure in their long-term future. Teams have expressed interested in Mims over the past year, sources said, but the Jets never have expressed a willingness to trade him. Maybe that will change now.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh can’t make up his mind on whether to play his starters Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m torn on it,” Saleh said Saturday after the second joint practice with the Falcons. “I wake up one day and I’m like, ‘OK, they’re going to play.’ The next day I wake up and they’re not going to play.”
It’s a multilayered decision for Saleh. The starters played only two series in the preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, and they typically don’t play in the final game. If they sit against the Falcons, it would be like having three consecutive bye weeks before the Sept. 11 season opener.
On the flip side, there’s the injury factor. The Jets already have suffered key injuries to right tackle Mekhi Becton (season-ending knee surgery) and quarterback Zach Wilson (arthroscopic knee surgery). Wilson, hurt against the Eagles, is expected to miss about a month, making it likely that Joe Flacco will face the Ravens in Week 1.
Flacco, 37, saw no action against the Eagles, so he would have no game reps before the opener — a risky proposition for a quarterback who hasn’t seen much game action in recent years.
“He doesn’t need it, but I feel like everybody can use it as a reminder of how to get yourself prepared and making sure every game is just a normal game,” said Saleh, hedging once again.
Saleh said they got two productive days of work against the Falcons, reducing the need to see his starters in the game. The Jets were in a similar situation last year, and those memories aren’t pleasant.
They lost defensive end Carl Lawson to a season-ending Achilles injury in a joint practice against the Green Bay Packers, then played their starters in the subsequent game. One of them, linebacker Jarrad Davis, suffered a significant ankle injury and was sidelined for two months.
“It was like bloodshed,” Saleh said, recalling the trip to Green Bay.
The Jets were crushed by injuries during the season, too, which may explain Saleh’s cautious approach. In Philadelphia, he decided at the last minute to rest key veterans, most notably Lawson, linebacker C.J. Mosley and tackle George Fant.
One potential problem area is the offensive line. As a result of Becton’s injury and Duane Brown’s late arrival, the starting five has yet to practice together. Brown, 36, who signed Aug. 15, spent the entire week with the conditioning staff, working his way into football shape. He won’t play Monday night, meaning the offensive line might not be together in a game setting until the opener.
Safety Jordan Whitehead said the joint practices were “like the preseason,” but acknowledged that actual game reps are important, too.
“When you do get into the game, it speeds up, so you definitely need some reps to get ready for the season,” he said. Another factor for Saleh: Monday Night Football.
“There’s tremendous value in this one. This one is different because it’s Monday Night Football,” he said. We’re such a young team and that’s what a lot of guys dream of.”
Saleh said the Monday Night Football stage creates a “heightened environment,” which he believes helps prepare the players for the intensity of the regular season.
PHILADELPHIA — All that was ever going to matter for the Jets this season was the quarterback.
Zach Wilson was all that mattered. Everything revolved around his progress.
In his second season after a rough rookie year, Wilson was the linchpin to anything the Jets were hoping to accomplish in 2022.
Sure, there were a few dozen other Jets being evaluated Friday night in their preseason opener against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field — a thoroughly-inconsequential 24-21 Jets comeback win.
But Wilson was the only player who really mattered.
Everyone was waiting to see at least small signs of improvement from him between Year One and Year Two, and Friday night was poised to provide an early glimpse.
But now, after the concerning non-contact injury Wilson sustained to his right knee on his ninth play from scrimmage, Wilson’s Year Two may be over before it began — though sources told The Post the Jets are hopeful his injury will only cause him to miss weeks rather than months.
Nevertheless, a Jets season that already carried with it more questions than an SAT exam is in doubt, if not outright peril.
Zach Wilson is treated on the field after injuring his knee. Chris Szagola/CSM/Shutterstock
After the game, head coach Robert Saleh was careful not to be overly optimistic.
“I’m always concerned until you get the final evaluation,” said Saleh, who added the ACL is still intact based on first tests but said the MRI exam will tell the story. “We’ve walked off the field with very positive thoughts, and it’s been opposite. We’ve walked off the field with bad initial readings and it’s been the opposite. I’m just going to let it play out and we’ll see [Saturday].
“I just want to let it all play out and I’ll keep saying my nightly prayers and let’s see what happens.’’
Despite the fact that Wilson was in the locker room after the game (but not when reporters were admitted), the Jets inexplicably declined to make him available.
Last season, when Wilson injured his PCL in a game at New England, he was made available to speak to reporters. Clearly, the fact the team shielded him from reporters was a sure sign that the news is not good.
“He’s in good spirits. He’s fine,’’ Saleh said, putting on a brave face to it all. “A little frustrated, obviously, but he’s as good as you can be in the situation.’’
The Jets’ 2022 season flashed before their disbelieving eyes with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter when Wilson got up limping after a scramble and eventually fell to the turf as team trainers rushed to his aid.
That kind of sequence — the player able to walk for a moment before realizing the knee is too loose to continue — more often than not signals a torn ACL.
Robert Saleh watches as Zach Wilson is tended to after injuring his knee. AP
That would be the worst-case scenario. A Jets case scenario. Here we go again. The Jets are in crisis yet again.
Wilson had just completed a crisp 10-yard slant pass to Elijah Moore on third down when, on a first-and-10 from the Jets 42-yard line, he was flushed from the pocket to his right by Eagles defenders Tarron Jackson and Jordan Davis.
He outran both of them and was staring down Eagles rookie linebacker Nakobe Dean in the open field near the right sideline. Instead of just cruising out of bounds to live to play another down, Wilson tried to juke Dean with an inside move to gain a few extra (meaningless) yards.
Zach Wilson is taken off the field after injuring his knee. AP
Sometimes, great athletic ability, which Wilson possesses, can be a curse.
Something bad happened inside his right knee joint when he made that move and Wilson’s night — and possibly his season — was over.
When Saleh was asked whether Wilson should have simply run out of bounds, he quickly responded, “A hundred percent.’’
Within minutes, Twitter was alive with medical experts diagnosing Wilson’s injury after simply watching it on TV.
Zach Wilson throws a pass during the Jets’ first drive. USA TODAY Sports
There, too, were armchair general managers flooding social media projecting next-step quarterback ideas for Jets GM Joe Douglas in the event Wilson’s injury is, indeed, season-ending. Jimmy Garoppolo’s name began trending. One snide Twitter jokester even suggested the Jets acquire Sam Darnold for a second go-round in green.
Asked what the next step is if this is, indeed, season ending, Saleh said: “Can we wait until after we get the MRI results before we start talking about that? I don’t want to put that negative juice in there.’’
When asked about 37-year-old backup quarterback Joe Flacco, Saleh said: “You guys know how I feel about Joe. He’s a phenomenal football player. He’s having a great camp and he’s got a lot of juice left in the tank.’’
Saleh said before the game the plan was to play Wilson and the rest of the starters for a series or two.
“If they put together a good first series, we’ll call it a day,’’ Saleh said. “If not, we’ll just go out there and try to get a certain number of plays.’’
The first series, of course, was an abject failure with Wilson intercepted on his fifth play from scrimmage. Then Wilson made it through just four plays in second series — possibly the final four plays of his 2022 season.
