Jets cut veteran receiver Kerley
NEW YORK » Jeremy Kerley’s second stint with the New York Jets is over.
The veteran wide receiver and punt returner was waived on Monday after he had been on a one-week roster exemption following a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.
The Jets had until 4 p.m. EST on Monday to either cut Kerley or make a roster move to clear a spot for the wide receiver. They chose to move on from Kerley, who had 22 catches for 217 yards and a touchdown in eight games.
Kerley was suspended by the league without pay on Nov. 6 after testing positive for Turinabol, an anabolic steroid. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Kerley issued a statement at the time, saying he was “shocked” by the result of the test and insisted he has never used steroids. He added that he would fully investigate the matter because “I know that I have done nothing wrong.”
Kerley returned to the team and practiced last week, and reiterated that he didn’t knowingly
ingest a performance enhancer. He added that he didn’t have time to investigate the situation, but jokingly said perhaps it was the work of “a ghost.”
“There’s a lot of ghosts around here,” Kerley said last Wednesday. “Maybe a ghost put it in me. I don’t know. You know the Ghost of Christmas Past? A ghost might have put it in me. I don’t know.”
Kerley was a fifth-round draft pick of the Jets out of TCU in 2011 and established himself as a surehanded punt returner and clutch pass-catcher on third downs for New York. He led the Jets in receptions in 2012 and 2013, but was released after the 2015 season. He signed with Detroit last year, but was traded during training camp to San Francisco, where he had a career-best 64 catches for 667 yards and three touchdowns.
The 49ers released him shortly before the regular season began in September, and the Jets reunited with Kerley a few days later.
In seven NFL seasons, Kerley has 268 catches for 3,109 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also has averaged 8.7 yards on punt returns, including a 68-yard touchdown in 2012.