New York Jets Rookie La'Mical Perine Injures Ankle, Leaves Practice
New York Jets rookie running back La’Mical Perine left practice Sunday at MetLife Stadium after suffering an ankle injury. Perine is scheduled to undergo an MRI to see if there is any structural damage to the ankle or if it is just a sprain.
“We’re going to evaluate that,” Jets head coach Adam Gase told reporters during his virtual post-practice press conference at MetLife Stadium. “We’ve got to go through the whole MRI process.”
Perine has been slotted in as the third running back behind Le’Veon Bell and Frank Gore. Given the workload that Bell wants and the options Gore presents, Perine may have been relegated to a reserve role. That said, the Jets have been high on their fourth-round draft pick.
Perine is a power back at 5-foot-11, 216 pounds. He finished his college career at the University of Florida with 2,485 yards rushing, eighth-most in Gators history. He also caught 72 passes for 674 yards his senior year.
“it was an ankle so I'm just trying to figure out if there was any damage done or if it was just a sprain,” Gase explained.
One option the Jets were looking at for the running back position was Miami Dolphins running back Kalen Ballage. Reports indicated that he was to be traded to the Jets. However, NFL Network on Sunday reported that Ballage failed a Jets physical because of a hamstring injury. That means that, for the time being, he will head back to the Dolphins.
The report also indicates that the Dolphins will likely release him. The Jets could then pick him up when he’s healed and not have to give the Dolphins anything in return.
Perine has earned praise the past few days from Gase, so the Jets are hoping this setback will be minor.
“He pulled away from those guys, you saw,” Gase said Wednesday about Perine. “There’s something to me when he gets into a game situation, his speed looks completely different than what a 40-time might look like.”
