Head coach Robert Saleh provided injury updates on a few players as the Jets begin their quick preparations for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday to kick off Week 16 of the NFL season.
There was some positive news on defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who missed Sunday’s game with a calf injury and his absence was certainly felt during the game. Saleh feels “very optimistic about Thursday” in regard to Williams’ availability.
“It was probably more wishful thinking, hoping that he would wake up on Sunday and be ready to roll,” Saleh said when asked how close Williams was to playing Sunday. “It just wasn’t, at the same time, we feel very optimistic about Thursday. Obviously, he’s got to do a couple of things, but he’s better than 50/50 this week.”
A few other players will be questionable for Thursday. They include wide receivers Jeff Smith (knee) and Corey Davis (concussion), running back Zonovan Knight (ankle) and safety Lamarcus Joyner (hip). Saleh said Knight’s “arrow’s pointing up” and that they “feel very confident” that Davis “should be able to roll on Thursday.”
Denzel Mims (concussion) and Brandin Echols (quad) will be out.
Then there’s the guy everyone is wondering about: quarterback Mike White. Saleh said White “is still going through evaluation”. When asked if he will start if he’s healthy, Saleh said, “We’ll get the clearance first, that’s something I’ve got to talk to the offensive staff about. We’ll see what happens. I’m not prepared to answer that one.”
Added Saleh when asked what White has to go through before he’s cleared for contact: “I think that’s going to be more with him and, again, all the different opinions he’s getting outside the building with regards to getting more scans. A lot of doctor talk, I’m not going to get into it here, but there’s more scans to see how much he’s healed. There was talk that they felt like a week could show some more healing — some callus, if you will — that will allow him to get on the field, but again, that’s something that he would have to get from another doctor and still be able to talk to our doctors about, too. So, there are a lot of hurdles he would have to go through.”
Saleh also defended Zach Wilson and said he “did a lot of really good things” on Sunday and was non-committal one way or the other on his starter Thursday.
