Jets’ CB only has sprain, listed week-to-week
Everything is coming up Jets. A day after opening the season with a 3110 victory over the Browns, the team received positive injury news about cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who appeared to suffer a serious knee injury in the game. An MRI exam Monday morning revealed a sprain and no ligament damage. The Jets said Cromartie is “weektoweek,” and he has not even been ruled out of Monday night’s game against the Colts.
“Considering the way he went down, I was very relieved,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “It looked like it was an ACL and he was sitting over there with the towel on his head, I didn’t know what happened. I’m glad it wasn’t.”
It looked scary when Cromartie fell to the MetLife Stadium turf in the second quarter Sunday without having been touched, as his knee hyperextended and then buckled. Cromartie was in obvious pain, pounding the turf as the doctors examined him. It looked as if it could be a seasonending knee injury. Instead, he will miss a few weeks at the most.
It would not be shocking to see Cromartie on the field this week. He is an athletic freak of nature who has shown remarkable durability in his 10 year career. He has missed just one game, the final regularseason game of 2010 when coach Rex Ryan rested his starters after the team already had clinched a playoff spot.
“They told me weektoweek,” Bowles said of his conversation with the doctors. “I don’t know what that means, whether it’s this week or next week. I’m going to wait and see how he heals. Until I see him running, I don’t have a timetable on him.”
Cromartie participated in a player development day for rookies on Monday and firstround pick Leonard Williams said Cromartie told him he would not miss a practice this week, never mind a game.
Jets rookie linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin, who suffered concussion in the fourth quarter Sunday, also was released from the hospital. Mauldin had very little movement on the field and was carted off,
strapped down to a backboard in a frightening scene. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where tests Sunday night showed he did not have a spinal or neck injury. He was kept in the hospital overnight for observation.
Mauldin even stopped by the Jets’ training center Monday afternoon, and met with Bowles.
“He’s feeling a little better,” Bowles said. “Obviously, he got a concussion and wasn’t feeling well at the time. He’s going to go home and rest. We’ll take it daybyday.”
“Our whole secondary is full of starters,” Skrine said. “You’ve got guys who started last year that are second string now. You got me, I started last year and I’m the nickel. So you’ve got a secondary full of starters.’’