New York Jets Face an Uphill Battle With Their Top Wide Receivers Down at the Kansas City Chiefs
The New York Jets wide receiver tandem of Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman are likely not going to be available for Sunday’s road game at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Perriman is already out with a concussion while Crowder, the team’s leading wide receiver, is officially listed as doubtful with a groin injury.
“It's not looking great for Sunday,” Jets head coach Adam Gase said Friday of Crowder, who was held out of practice but saw limited practice the day before.
Crowder missed his third straight game with the groin injury Sunday. He is the Jets’ leading receiver with 29 catches for 383 yards and two touchdowns only playing in four games so far this season.
“I really felt good yesterday when we were in practice,” Gase said further on Crowder. “He was limited and we were trying to put him in a position where we could figure out where he was at. I felt like he felt confident when I spoke to him on Monday and Tuesday. He felt really good, like, ‘I’m going to be good’.”
Perriman suffered a concussion late in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 18-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday. He was hit by Buffalo safety Micah Hyde and lost consciousness. Hyde received an unnecessary roughness penalty on the hit.
Both receivers have missed three games each. That’s a big reason for the Jets being last in the NFL in total yards and scoring.
The Chiefs are also down a wide receiver Sunday. All-Pro wideout Sammy Watkins will miss his third straight game with a hamstring injury.
While two Jets receivers are likely on the sidelines for this Sunday’s game against Kansas City, rookie receiver Denzel Mims is in a good position to build on his first NFL experience.
“Denzel keeps getting better every week, but he hadn’t been able to accumulate a lot of practices because of his injuries,” Jets offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said Thursday. “He’s making mistakes as he goes out there and plays, but he keeps making new mistakes because he’s a really smart kid.”
Mims made four catches for 42 yards in his NFL debut in the loss to Buffalo Sunday.
“He’s getting better every single day and you know for him it’s really just getting comfortable,” said quarterback Sam Darnold also on Thursday. “He’s been doing a really good job of communicating and like I said, he’s just been doing a really good job as well, just continuing to absorb as much as he can with this offense.”
Mims will start on the outside as will Jeff Smith. Braxton Berrios will start in the slot. Vyncint Smith is also available.
While the wideouts continue to struggle to stay on the field, both tight ends Chris Herndon and Ryan Griffin are healthy and potential targets. Still, Darnold knows he hasn’t targeted either of them as he has in past seasons.
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things but Chris (Herndon) is always going to be a weapon for us and someone that we always look to get the ball to,” Darnold added. “I just think so far this year it hasn’t worked out that way.”
Many of the offensive schemes this season have not worked out either. The Jets are a huge underdog and have a big uphill climb to avoid starting the season at 0-8.
