George Fant heads to the reserve/COVID-19 list
Per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the New York Jets wrapped up their first day of training camp with several roster moves.
#Jets roster moves:
Placed RT George Fant on reserve/COVID-19 list.
Marcus Maye, Foley Fatukasi and Jonathan Marshall all passed physicals. Cleared to practice.
Signed free agent DE Jeremiah Valoaga.
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) July 27, 2021
Offensive lineman George Fant was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but the team cleared defenders Marcus Maye, Foley Fatukasi, and Jonathan Marshall to practice. The team has also signed defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga, who previously worked with head coach Robert Saleh during the 2019 season in San Francisco.
Fant was one of 15 NFL players who tested positive on Tuesday and the first Jet to be subjected to the NFL’s new COVID-19 policies. If he is vaccinated, Fant can return to the team after two negative tests 24 hours apart. On the other hand, unvaccinated positive players are required to isolate for 10 days, a procedure similar to last season’s policies. The veteran Fant is expected to compete for the starting right tackle job with Washington-based newcomer Morgan Moses.
Defensive reinforcements are on the way
On the other hand, the Jets get back three key defenders, all of whom were previously placed on either the Non-Football Injury list (Maye and Fatukasi) or the Physically Unable to Perform group (Marshall) over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Jets will also welcome in Valoaga, a fifth-year pro out of UNLV. He was spent the last two seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders but opted out of last year in the midst of the health crisis.
Under Saleh’s watch, Valoaga, who previously spent time on Detroit’s active roster and Miami’s practice squad, led the 49ers with 4.5 sacks in the 2019 preseason. Though he did not make the opening day roster, he later partook in four regular season games during San Francisco’s 2019 NFC title run, earning two tackles and a pass breakup.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
