Jets WR Davis out for remainder of season
Corey Davis has been ruled out for the rest of the season after injuring his core muscle against the Eagles on Sunday. Davis will have surgery on the muscle, Robert Saleh said Monday.
Davis was already questionable with a groin injury heading into that game, but Saleh wasn’t sure if playing through that injury caused this season-ending one.
“It’s a fair question. He was cleared. Went through a lot of different procedures to try to get that thing ready to roll,” Saleh said. “It’s unfortunate it just finally gave out.”
Davis was injured early in the fourth quarter when Zach Wilson floated a pass to him down the sideline that fell incomplete. Davis tumbled and crashed on the sideline before getting up gingerly then limped away.
Davis dealt with a hip injury that caused him to miss the Bengals and Colts matchups in Weeks 8 and 9. He returned against the Bills and caught five passes for 95 yards. Davis played against the Dolphins on Nov. 21, hurting his groin in that afternoon, which caused him to miss the Texans game the following week.
The Jets big-time free agency signing will now have missed eight games in his first season with Gang Green.
In the nine games he did play, Davis was solid for the Jets, collecting 492 yards and four touchdowns. He did have uncharacteristic drops (six) throughout the year, something that wasn’t an issue for him in Tennessee. He had 11 drops in the past three seasons prior to joining Gang Green.
It’s a blow to the Jets offense, which will now be out its No. 1 receiver. Wilson trusted Davis the most, which explains why he led the team in targets throughout this season, at least, until recently. He averaged the most receiving yards per game and had four touchdowns in nine games.
“I feel awful for Corey. He’s one of the true pros in this league. Honestly goes about his business the right away,” Saleh said. “So for his season to be cut short, I know he’s hurt. But at the same time, we’ll get him back next year and he’ll be better than ever.”
In the games that Davis missed, Elijah Moore filled in excellently. Moore flashed the elite potential he showed during training camp.
In the past six games, Moore had 459 yards receiving with five touchdowns. So the second rounder out of Ole Miss proved he can and did step up. Jamison Crowder is also a reliable slot weapon.
Keelan Cole is solid, but hasn’t done much this year. Denzel Mims has talent but it’s been a rough season for him as far as playing time and health. Mims missed two games this season on the COVID-19 list and missed a large portion of the offseason with food poisoning.
When Mims was healthy, he was stuck behind Davis, Cole and Moore. So, Mims hasn’t had many opportunities to play.
But the receiving room must step up in Davis’ absence in the final five games of the year.
THE KICKER SITUATION
The Jets ranked 29th in field goal conversion rate at 68.42% heading into their Week 13 game, which led them to cut kicker Matt Ammendola on Saturday. They gave Alex Kessman a shot against the Eagles, but he missed both of his extra point attempts.
The Jets released Kessman on Monday and signed Eddy Pineiro to the active roster.
Pineiro is a former Gator who entered the NFL in 2018. He signed with the Raiders but suffered an injury and was placed on injury reserve. The Bears traded for him in 2019 and he converted 82% of his field goals.
Pineiro suffered a groin injury in 2020 and hasn’t kicked in an NFL game since 2019.