Home | Articles | News | Ex-NY Jets RB Ty Johnson accuses team of backstabbing

Ex-NY Jets RB Ty Johnson accuses team of backstabbing

Ty Johnson, NY Jets, Cut, Injury
Ty Johnson, New York Jets, Getty Images

Ty Johnson feels like the New York Jets backstabbed him

When the New York Jets released Ty Johnson with a non-football injury designation prior to the draft, it barely made a blip on the radar screen.

Johnson played a minor role with the team last season but was not even expected to be re-signed. The only surprise was that the Jets released him a month after they re-inked him.

Things don’t appear to be so simple, though. Johnson took to Instagram to tell his story, one that, if true, casts the Jets in a highly negative light.

Per Johnson, he tore his pectoral muscle while working out away from the team facility. When he told the Jets, the team doctor recommended that he have surgery, which he did not want. After he had the procedure, the Jets cut him a few days later.

Bad look

If fully true, this makes it seem like the Jets messed with Johnson’s career. After all, he had the surgery only on the advice of the organization; left to his own devices, he might have chosen pain management and rehab over a procedure. The fact that he went under the knife means that he has a long recovery ahead of him and may miss the 2023 season.

If he had been under contract with the Jets, at least he had a job while he recovered. Now, not only did the team release him, but he also lost the chance to compete for another team’s roster.

While the NFL is a business, Johnson makes it sound like Joe Douglas backstabbed him. The team could have simply released him and let him make his own medical decisions.

That being said, perhaps this was a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Johnson says that he spoke to the team doctor, not Douglas. There is a strong possibility that the doctor gave him medical advice without knowing that Douglas was planning on releasing Johnson.

The release of an injured player is unfortunate, but that is part of the harsh business of the NFL. Johnson was a fourth-string running back at best and would have been in a battle to make the roster. When a player on the roster bubble sustains a serious injury, the reality is that the team cannot afford to carry them.

This is Johnson’s version of events. Douglas would likely have his own narrative, and the truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle. Still, it’s an unwanted piece of negative publicity.

Next Article

More Jet X

Subscribe to become a Jet X Member to unlock every piece of Jets X-Factor content (film breakdowns, analytics, Sabo with the Jets, etc.), get audio versions of each article, receive the ability to comment within our community, and experience an ad-free platform experience.

Sign up for Jet X Daily, our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning at 8:00 a.m. ET:

Download the free Jet X Mobile App to get customizable notifications directly to your iOS (App Store) or Android (Google Play) device.

Add Jets X-Factor to your Google News feed and/or find us on Apple News to stay updated with the New York Jets.

Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @jetsxfactor for all the latest New York Jets news, Facebook for even more, Instagram for some of the top NY Jets images, and YouTube for original Jets X-Factor videos and live streaming.

About the Author

Related Articles

Comments

Subscribe
Notify of
2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments