The Jets are off this week and it appears they will not have safety Andre Cisco in the lineup when they return to action in Week 10.
Cisco left their 39-38 win over the Bengals with an injury in the fourth quarter and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Cisco tore his pectoral. He will have surgery to repair the injury and will be out indefinitely as a result.
The Jets signed Cisco to a one-year contract this offseason. He started all eight games this season and had 41 tackles and a fumble recovery in that action.
Rookie Malachi Moore and Tony Adams are likely to be the starting safeties once the Jets are back on the field next week.
The Browns have a bye this week and that will give running back Quinshon Judkins an extended stretch to recover from the shoulder injury he picked up in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said at a Monday press conference that Judkins is considered day-to-day, so the week off could allow him to return without missing any more game action. Judkins has run 118 times for 486 yards and five touchdowns in seven games this season.
Stefanski confirmed that linebacker Carson Schwesinger is week-to-week with a high-ankle sprain and said that cornerback Tyson Campbell is in the concussion protocol. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins is day-to-day with a groin injury.
The conditions of all four players will be updated once the Browns get back to work ahead of their Week 10 road game against the Jets.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn went into Week 8 pondering a quarterback change, but Tyrod Taylor’s knee injury meant that the team stuck with Justin Fields in Cincinnati.
Fields bounced back from being benched in a Week 7 loss to the Panthers by going 21-of-32 for 244 yards and a touchdown and converting a pair of two-point conversions in the Jets’ 39-38 comeback win. The victory was the first of the year for the Jets and Fields opened up about how this year — which included harsh public criticism from team owner Woody Johnson — has “been a lot for me emotionally, spiritually.”
On Monday, Glenn praised Fields for his honesty.
“He’s built to handle things like that,” Glenn said at a press conference. “I’m proud of him. I’m not shocked and I expect for him to continue living his life like that.”
Glenn also said the quarterback “played the game exactly like we see him playing for us to win the game,” but he did not say that Fields will be the starter when the Jets return from their bye to host the Browns in Week 10.
“I think you know what my answer’s going to be on that,” Glenn said. “This is the bye week and we’re going to focus on us. I have time to make that decision.”
One win does not erase all that went on in the first seven weeks of the season, so it makes sense to evaluate everything during the week off. Given Fields’ contract and the way he played on Sunday, it would be a bit of a surprise if that evaluation resulted in a change but it will be a while before anyone knows for sure.
The Jets won for the first time this season in Cincinnati on Sunday and running back Breece Hall’s fourth quarter was a big reason for the win.
Hall ran for two touchdowns early in the quarter and those scores had the Jets within six points when they got the ball with 6:50 left to play in the game. Hall had a pair of runs to help move the Jets to the 4-yard line and it looked like they were going to try to get him a third rushing touchdown on a first-down sweep from that spot.
That was the idea the Jets wanted to sell, but the actual plan was for Hall to throw the ball to tight end Mason Taylor and the running back did just that after a pump fake. Taylor caught the ball over a Bengals defender and the Jets celebrated a 39-38 win when their defense stopped the home team on a fourth down. After the game, Hall, who finished with 147 scrimmage yards, said he told the coaches to use him often ahead of the game.
“I went to the coaches this weekend, not complaining, but letting them know I need the ball at least 25 times,” Hall said, via a transcript from the team. “I always told them I hate losing, and if we lose, I want it to be on me. We pride ourselves on running the ball. We ran the ball really efficient today. Isaiah [Davis] played a really good game. I did OK, and the whole line played great and protected Justin [Fields] really well. We were able to just be really efficient on offense.”
Hall only got 21 touches, but that proved to be enough to get the job done.
Sunday’s game in Cincinnati ended with a Jets celebration, but the day began on a more somber note.
Longtime Jets center Nick Mangold died at the age of 41 after battling kidney disease and head coach Aaron Glenn took some time to talk about Mangold at the start of his postgame press conference. Glenn did not play for the Jets at the same time as Mangold, but he was in the organization during Mangold’s 11 years with the team and he said Mangold was a vital member of the organization.
“I didn’t play with him, but I was here as a scout when he was playing and he was the heart and soul of the team,” Glenn said. “He had a number of kids and it’s always tough to hear that, especially a guy who’s a true Jet through and through — that made his appearance felt. Prayers go out to him and his family. It’s tough to hear because of who he was as person, him being a true Jet.”
Mangold was a two-time All-Pro for the Jets and is in the team’s Ring of Honor. They will be back at home after their Week 9 bye and there will likely be further celebrations of his life once the team is back in their home stadium.
