The Jets placed running back Bernard Pierce on IR and signed running back Antone Smith, the team announced. 
Pierce was signed by the Jets late last month as running back depth, but his hamstring injury kept him from getting on the field and showing what he can do. The 25-year-old appeared in seven games with the Jaguars in 2015 and totaled just six carries for 11 yards. He spent the first three seasons of his career with the Ravens after they used a 2012 third-round pick on him, and he showed significant promise as a rookie. That year, the ex-Temple Owl averaged 4.9 yards per rush on 108 attempts. Pierce added a combined 802 rushing yards the next two seasons in Baltimore, but on a meager 3.3 yards per carry. Had he made the Jets’ roster, Pierce would have had to serve a suspension for the first two weeks of the regular season.
Smith was a big-play specialist for the Falcons in 2013 and 2014, racking up an incredible 289 rushing yards on just 28 carries (10.3 yards per attempt), adding another 232 yards through the air on 15 receptions. Smith found paydirt seven times on his 43 touches. Last year, he appeared in five games for the Bears but recorded only one carry.
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