New York Jets promote 3 players from practice squad entering Week 1

The New York Jets had room to add three players to their roster ahead of the season-opener in Buffalo – one open spot left on their 53-man roster and two spots open via the new league-wide luxury of being able to promote two players to the active roster from the practice squad each week.

Quarterback Mike White has been promoted as the 53rd player on the active roster and will back up Sam Darnold in Week 1, pushing James Morgan to QB3. White will hold down the backup role until Joe Flacco‘s return. The team’s hope is to have Flacco back in 1-2 weeks.

The Jets chose running back Josh Adams and wide receiver Josh Malone as their two weekly promotions. As part of the rule, both players will head back to practice squad the day following the game, and each can only be promoted on a one-week basis only one more time over the rest of the season.

Both the running back and wide receiver positions were razor-thin prior to the promotions. At running back, the Jets were down to Le’Veon Bell and Frank Gore as La’Mical Perine will miss this week’s game with an ankle injury. At wide receiver, the Jets had only Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman, Chris Hogan, and Braxton Berrios with Denzel Mims ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Adams, 23, was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2018. He logged 120 carries for 511 yards (solid 4.3 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns with Philadelphia in his rookie season. He appeared sparingly for the Jets last season, carrying the rock eight times for 12 yards (1.5 per attempt) in three appearances.

Malone, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Bengals out of Tennessee in 2017. He played 21 offensive snaps over two games with the Jets last year and did not see a target. From 2017-18, he played 20 games with Cincinnati and was highly inefficient, catching 7-of-22 targets for 75 yards (3.4 per target) and one touchdown.

With wide receiver and running back chosen as the positions to be filled, the Jets are weak at inside linebacker for the time being. Blake Cashman and Neville Hewitt are the only healthy actives at the position as Avery Williamson misses this week’s game with a hamstring injury. Harvey Langi can play some off-ball linebacker in a pinch, but it is certainly not his strong suit.

Here is how the Jets’ roster looks at the moment.