The New York Jets remain significantly banged-up going into their critical Week 5 contest against the Cleveland Browns, although they received at least one bit of positive news on the injury front.
Running back Breece Hall, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, guard Dylan Parham, and linebacker Kiko Mauigoa have all been ruled out for Sunday’s AFC battle. However, according to head coach Aaron Glenn, tight end Mason Taylor will return after a two-game absence.
Hall, Parham, and Mitchell will also miss their second straight game. Mauigoa is out for the third straight week.
Meanwhile, Taylor will return to a Jets offense that could sorely use pass-catching depth due to the rash of recent injuries at wide receiver. Over the last two weeks, the Jets threw over half of their passes (29 of 52) to just two players, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
Taylor, a 2025 second-round pick out of LSU, got off to a slow start in his second season. Through two games, Taylor caught 2 of 3 targets for -2 yards. He is looking to pick up where he left off at the end of his rookie year, when he caught 44 passes for 369 yards and a touchdown while ranking second among NFL tight ends with a 76.9% contested catch rate (11 of 14).
Taylor started the Jets’ first two games and was leading New York’s tight end unit in snaps, playing 66% of the offensive snaps in Week 1. In his absence, Sadiq stepped up as the top tight end, starting each of the last two games while playing 61% of the offensive snaps.
With Taylor back in the fold, the Jets are equipped to return to the heavy tight end usage they relied on to a high degree of success over the first game-and-a-half prior to Taylor’s injury.
