After a heartbreaking 34-32 loss on opening day, the New York Jets knew they needed to address two major concerns that popped up last week: the secondary and the return game.

New York believes it just needs time to fix the secondary concerns. Regarding their return game, though, the Jets didn’t wait. Xavier Gipson, the intended starting punt returner going into the regular season, was released, and Isaiah Williams was signed as a replacement.

Head coach Aaron Glenn’s swift action with New York’s return game was eye-opening. Few teams in the NFL will make a sudden roster move like that just a week into the regular season.

Glenn’s career as head coach will be about results, though. With Gipson not cutting it, he needed answers.

Now, fans and the media must wait to see exactly how New York’s return game will be handled moving forward.

Jets speak out on return game

The Jets’ return game took another major turn over the week. All-Pro kick return specialist Kene Nwangwu suffered a hamstring injury during their Week 1 loss to Pittsburgh, which will hold him out of Sunday’s game against Buffalo.

That means the team is looking to replace more than just Gipson. The organization needs to find two returners for Sunday’s contest against Buffalo.

In typical Glenn fashion, though, the Jets aren’t teasing what their decision will end up being.

“It’s been going really well for us… there’s a lot of information that we take in when we start to look at that from a practice perspective,” Glenn said before practice on Friday. “It’s exciting for those guys because they have a shot, and I keep saying this, our program is built on: you earn your keep. So, the guys that give us the best chance to be successful in those situations, they will be out there.”

The prevailing theory is that the Jets’ kick return duties will be split between the newcomer in Williams and fourth-round rookie Arian Smith. The Georgia product was on the field for a kick return after Nwangwu went down last week. New York could use the kick return game to create playmaking opportunities for the speedster, who ran a 4.36 in the forty-yard dash.

As of this moment, Williams seems like the logical punt returner as well. The 24-year-old was signed off the Bengals’ practice squad, which means he has to be on the active roster. Because of that, the expectation is that New York relies on Williams.

Some fans and analysts could use this opportunity to endorse camp hero Jamaal Pritchett for the role. While Glenn did acknowledge they would look “in-house” to solve their return questions, there’s a reason why Pritchett wasn’t given the opportunity to start the year.

Throughout the preseason and camp, the UDFA struggled to field punts. He muffed one in a game and a few more during practices. With Glenn looking for consistency in that role after Gipson’s fumble, it wouldn’t make sense for New York to roll the dice with Pritchett at this time.

Williams has yet to record a fumble or muff across 60 NFL touches between the regular season and preseason. It isn’t the largest sample, but it’s enough for New York to feel safer with him over Pritchett.

That leaves Williams and Smith until Nwangwu heals.

New York’s special teams issues aren’t guaranteed to go away just because Gipson is no longer on the team, but it’s clear that everyone on that unit is on high alert after the release.

It leaves Glenn confident the unit can turn things around going into Week 2.