NY Jets defensive end Carl Lawson will miss the entire 2021 season
Perhaps the New York Jets would have been better off if the tundra was actually frozen.
While in Green Bay, taking part in joint practices with the Packers, the Jets announced late Thursday afternoon that edge rusher Carl Lawson will miss the entirety of the 2021 NFL season, per the team’s official Twitter account.
DL Carl Lawson and S Zane Lewis will miss the 2021 season with injuries sustained at today's practice.
DL Sheldon Rankins and WR Denzel Mims are day-to-day.
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 19, 2021
Jets fans remained on the edge of their seats for most of the afternoon thanks to what transpired in Green Bay.
Lawson went down via injury at some point during the team’s joint practice with the Packers. He burst off the edge to get past Packers tackle Elgton Jenkins before going down on one particular Packers passing play.
Players from both teams immediately huddled around Lawson, as it created an incredibly somber mood for all involved, per multiple reports.
The former Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher concluded his first Jets season by eventually riding a cart into the Packer facilities.
The Jets long wait at EDGE rusher continues
Lawson, 26, signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Jets this past March. It’s no secret how long the team has waited for a legitimate edge rusher to come to town.
Finally, the Jets snagged one in Lawson. Fans and many within the building considered him to be the team’s first legitimate edge threat since John Abraham back in 2005.
A year ago, Lawson tallied 5.5 sacks in Cincinnati, but he finished fourth in the entire league with 64 quarterback pressures (among edge defenders). At 26 years of age, he seemed to be hitting his stride.
Lawson “coming into his own” is something young Mekhi Becton would agree with. Time and again this summer, the veteran has given the youngster fits, as his wide array of pass-rush moves had Becton’s wheels spinning at times.
Lawson figured to lead a scary four-man pass rush alongside the likes of Quinnen Williams, Sheldon Rankins, John Franklin-Myers and Vinny Curry. This is even taking into account some of the other guys such as 1-tech or 2i-tech specialist Foley Fatukasi and young defensive end Bryce Huff, who played extremely well against the New York Giants last Saturday night.
When ranking players in terms of importance to the depth chart, Lawson’s name would have appeared high on the list—considering what he can do from the outside. Perhaps only quarterback Zach Wilson beat him out in the valuable-to-the-Jets category this season.
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Other injury news
New York simultaneously announced that safety Zane Lewis will also miss the entirety of the 2021 season. He suffered a torn patellar tendon and sprained ACL, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Also injured on this bleak day the Jets will want to soon forget were wide receiver Denzel Mims (hip) and interior defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins (knee).
Fans exhaled just a tad after Mims’s situation was described as “precautionary.” The Baylor product that’s been the topic of much spring and summer discussion remains “day to day,” as does Rankins.
The only bright spot now, as it relates to Carl Lawson, is the way Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh attacked the offseason. They understood the importance of depth upfront and still have plenty of talented defensive linemen on the roster.
Somebody will now need to take a major step forward on the outside, however. Bryce Huff should be considered candidate No. 1.
