Sports

Disgruntled Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore, who was benched in Sunday’s 16-9 win over the Denver Broncos after requesting to be traded, is expected to play this Sunday against the New England Patriots (Bill Moore photo)

Injuries become the 5-2 Jets’ biggest obstacle to progress

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Jets’ gritty 16-9 road victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday came with a steep cost as they lost sensational rookie running back Breece Hall and versatile offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker to season-ending injuries. Both players sustained their injuries in the second quarter. Hall tore the ACL in his right knee and also experienced damage to his meniscus. Tucker suffered a torn triceps.

Hall, a second round pick by the Jets in last April’s NFL Draft out of Iowa State, was a leading candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year. He has 463 yards rushing on 80 carries, 19 receptions for 218 yards and five total touchdowns. Vera-Tucker, selected 14th overall in the 2021 draft by the Jets from USC, had emerged as one of the team’s most indispensable players. He excelled at right guard, left tackle and right tackle this season and played all three positions at a high level.

“There’s two potential Pro Bowlers [out for the season],” said Jets head coach Robert Saleh on Monday. “It’s the NFL, next man up. M.C. [running back Michael Carter] proved he can carry the load, Ty Johnson did a nice job. And with the O-line, it’s been that way all year, guys shuffling in. I have a lot of faith in the guys who stepped in.”

On Tuesday, the Jets looked outside the organization for running back help and acquired James Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2023 conditional sixth-round pick. It will convert to a fifth-round pick if Robinson rushes for 600 yards this season. The 24-yearold Robinson has run for 2,177 yards on 485 attempts in 35 games played for the Jaguars since signing with them as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State in 2020. In seven games this season he has 340. Robinson is a capable back who is likely to immediately become the Jets’ primary ball carrier. They’ll need to continue to focus their offense on their ground game until second-year quarterback Zach Wilson improves his productivity as a passer. In the last two games, both victories, Wilson has thrown for under 200 yards in each. He passed for just 110 yards in a 27-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers and only 121 versus the Broncos. The Jets have won four in a row and face the New England Patriots on the road this Sunday.

They expect to have wide receiver Elijah Moore active again after he was benched on Sunday, days after he demanded a trade for his diminished role in the offense. Some of it can be attributed to Wilson’s deficiencies and some to Moore’s underperformance. The Jets anticipated Moore, a second round pick from the University of Mississippi in 2021, emerging as one of the league’s more dynamic weapons this season after amassing 59 catches, 741 yards and five TDs as a rookie.

Instead, he has only been targeted 29 times and has just 16 receptions for 203 yards and no touchdowns.

Win by win, the Giants convert doubters into believers Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas has been a cornerstone of the team’s improved

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

The Giants understandably still have many skeptics that aren’t convinced the team has staying power despite their implausible 6-1 start to this season. But entering Week 8 as they prepare to face the arguably equally surprising 4-3 Seattle Seahawks this Sunday on the road, the Giants are rapidly converting doubters into believers.

Coming off of their 23-17 win versus the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road this past Sunday, a deep dive into their roster and raw metrics, as well as the eye test, doesn’t yield a determination the Giants are flush with All-Pro and Pro Bowl players, or match the collective talent of several of the NFL’s star-filled squads such as the Kansas Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

The Giants have a developing quarterback in Daniel Jones, who did not have his fifthyear contract option picked up by the organization in the off-season, a clear sign the new regime of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll were not sold on the 25-year-old No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft being their long-term QB.

They came into this season unsure if running back Saquon Barkley, the NFL’s No. 2 pick in 2018 who like Jones is playing for a new contract, could return to his rookie superstar form after a rash of injuries, notably a torn ACL that limited him to only two games in the 2020 campaign and relegated the gifted Bronx-born Penn State product to ordinary status over the past two seasons.

There were also warranted concerns about the offensive line. Although left tackle Andrew Thomas, another Giants first round pick (No. 4 in 2020), had steadily improved over his two years in the league, there was still noticeable room for refinement before he could be considered a stabilizing force of the unit.

On the other side of the ball, the defense, which under former coordinator Patrick Graham, now the defensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, had been solid in 2020 but last season, they lacked a disrupted pass rush and consistent playmakers. Furthermore, for salary cap purposes, Schoen and the Giants’ key decision makers released the team’s best cornerback, James Bradberry, in May.

As a footnote, Bradberry subsequently signed with the Giants’ NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles, who at 6-0 are the NFL’s only undefeated team, and has had a significant impact on their defense.

The aforementioned uncertainties prior to the Giants starting the season have thus far been allayed. Jones has been solid and at times resembled a player who could move into a higher tier on the league’s QB stratum, Barkley has been as explosive and productive as any back in football, Thomas is establishing himself as one of the game’s most reliable left tackles, and the defense, under new coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, has been fast, stout and aggressive.

Jones was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after becoming the first Giants player in franchise history to pass for over 200 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. He had 202 passing and ran for 107 in the victory over the Jaguars.

offensive line (Wikipedia All Pro Reels (Andrew Thomas WFT-Giants SEP2021 (cropped), CC BY-SA 2.0)