Adonai Mitchell remains out with finger injury

Mitchell was a DNP in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices, so the team’s decision to rule him out on Friday doesn’t come as a surprise. Mitchell will now aim to return in Week 5 against the Browns. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who saw a season-high eight targets last week in Mitchell’s absence, will be on the fantasy radar as a fringe TE1 with Mitchell again sidelined.

Mitchell hurt his finger late last week and missed New York’s Week 3 game against the Lions. He could miss their Week 4 tilt against the Bears too. With Mitchell sidelined last week, Garrett Wilson had a dominant 49 percent air yards share to go along with 13 targets. Kenyon Sadiq, who had eight targets in Week 3, would once again be viable if Mitchell is sidelined in Week 4.

The Jets took things down to the wire with Mitchell but will ultimately hold him out for at least a week as he works through the finger injury. The Jets are now extremely thin at receiver with first-round rookie Omar Cooper Jr. on IR on top of the Mitchell injury. Isaiah Williams will take over as the team’s No. 2 receiver this week. Also inactive for the Jets are CB Nahshon Wright, TE Mason Taylor, LB Kiko Mauigoa, RB Kene Nwangwu, K Blake Grupe, and S Minkah Fitzpatrick.

We’ll get official word from the team in a few minutes. If Mitchell is indeed out, Isaiah Williams would step in as the team’s No. 2 receiver. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq would also take on a larger role.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn said Mitchell got his finger caught in a jersey on Thursday, but he shared no further details. ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported that there is “some concern” regarding the injury, and Mitchell was seen practicing with some sort of all-encompassing wrap around his hand, index finger and middle finger. The speedy wide receiver is firmly in the questionable camp. If active, he must be viewed as a boom-bust WR3/FLEX, though this matchup against the Lions is very favorable.

Mitchell popped up as a limited participant on Thursday’s injury report, and while we don’t have the specifics, Cimini’s report is a bit concerning ahead of Week 3’s game against the Lions. Mitchell popped up for 12 targets in last week’s loss to the Packers and is firmly on the streaming radar against a Lions defense that has struggled out of the gate, but we’ll have to see if he can at least get a questionable tag entering the weekend in order to have any confidence heading into Sunday. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said Mitchell will be limited in Friday’s practice and that the injury came after his finger got caught in a jersey. We should have a better sense of his availability when the team releases its final injury report later in the day.

Mitchell was a surprise add to the report on Thursday after practicing in full on Wednesday. It’s a concerning one for the Jets, who figured to build a lot of the passing game around Mitchell, and who have just four healthy wideouts on the roster. We’ll see how this pans out on Friday, but his status is certainly in at least a little jeopardy.

Mitchell led the Jets in targets while playing 61 of the team’s 74 snaps and running a route on 41 of their 50 dropbacks. Mitchell was also targeted on a deep ball that led to a defensive pass interference call and would have had another 40+ yard completion if it weren’t for a truly impressive play by the Green Bay defensive back. The Jets are getting no push from their offensive line, so the team will likely need to take to the air to use the ball. That figures to be good news for Mitchell, especially next week against a banged-up Lions secondary.

Picking up where he left off for the Jets last season, only this time with hopefully better quarterback and line play, Mitchell caught a 40-yard pass in the third quarter to set the Jets up in the red zone. His receiving slash wasn’t bad considering the fact Geno Smith dropped back only 24 times in a game the Jets controlled start to finish. They didn’t need to open the offense up, and they very much did not. That should change for Week 2 against the Packers, where Mitchell can be fired up as a boom/bust WR4.

Cooper played extensively in the Jets’ first preseason game, prompting The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt to write that WR Isaiah Williams appeared to have overtaken Cooper for the starting slot receiver job. This week, Cooper out-snapped WR Isaiah Williams six to one on the first drive. Williams continued playing on the second drive before rotating with Cooper on the third. PFF’s Nathan Jahnke notes that when Cooper returned, he lined up out wide while Williams manned the slot. Williams caught 3-of-5 targets for 17 yards and one fumble, though it was recovered by the Jets. It appears as though Cooper may have regained his spot as the Jets’ WR3 behind WR1 Garrett Wilson and WR2 Adonai Mitchell. Cooper still makes for a risky late-round dart throw, but he will get more chances to contribute.