The New York Jets’ Friday injury report features Bless Austin and Sam Ficken as questionable heading into the Los Angeles Chargers game.
Pierre Desir is gone and Brian Poole is lost for the year. To say the New York Jets are thin at cornerback is to state something more obvious than “Joe Namath had a hell of a time in the 1960s.”
Fortunately, it appears as though Bless Austin is coming around after missing Thursday’s practice with a neck issue. He practiced on a limited basis Friday and is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Head coach Adam Gase spread the positive Austin vibes on his Friday Zoom call with the media. Austin’s MRI returned clean, good news.
“Hopefully Bless has a good day today and we’re good to go for Sunday,” Gase said. “So, that’s a positive MRI result; we’ll see how today goes.”
Kicker Sam Ficken is another player on the mend. After missing the last three games with a right groin injury, he practiced in full Thursday only to follow it up with a limited day on Friday.
Gase seemed to be non-committal when discussing his kicker, especially with how well Sergio Castillo has kicked for the team in recent weeks.
“Well, we’ll find out how Sam feels today because he’s supposed to kick,” Gase said. “It looked good Wednesday as far as how he felt, how he looked. It’s just going to be how does he feel today.
“I think it’s going to be just a discussion of how he feels, kind of what Brant (Boyer) says, what the special teams guys think.”
Castillo has made six of his seven field-goal attempts since replacing the injured Ficken. His lone miss came courtesy of a Kansas City Chiefs block as the first half expired. Castillo has looked confident each time he’s taken the field.
Of course, Sam Darnold will miss another game. Both he and Blake Cashman have already been ruled out. Surprisingly, the team’s injury report this week is lacking the usual quantity showcased on a week in, week out basis.
After practicing on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday, wide receiver Breshad Perriman practiced in full Friday and looks good to go for the game. The same can be said for young Quinnen Williams.
The Jets and Bolts are slated to kick things off at 4:05 p.m. ET this Sunday from Los Angeles.
