The Jets made a few roster moves today, per team reporter Ethan Greenberg, the key move being the placement of offensive tackle Duane Brown on injured reserve. Shortly back from an earlier stint on IR, Brown’s season has officially come to an end.
New York initially placed Brown on IR due to a hip injury that threatened to keep him out for multiple weeks. Brown had begun the year as a starter after playing a starting role in his first year with the team last season. Despite initial optimism that Brown would be able to return soon, it would take nine weeks before he was officially activated from IR.
While Brown was back on the active roster starting a month ago, his first two game appearances since then saw him coming off the bench. He finally made his third start of the season two weeks ago but only played five offensive snaps in that contest. Since then, Brown has been an inactive member of the roster. Not much will change with his placement on IR except that the Jets will be able to fill his roster spot with another player.
That honor will go to tight end Zack Kuntz. Kuntz is a seventh-round rookie out of Old Dominion who has spent the entire season on the team’s practice squad. With the recent injury troubles of Jeremy Ruckert, Kuntz will add some tight end depth behind Tyler Conklin and Kenny Yeboah.
The team also announced the return of kicker Austin Seibert, who will join the practice squad after a one-week stint with the team back in September. As regular kicker Greg Zuerlein sits on the injury report as questionable with an injury to his right quadriceps muscle, Seibert’s signing could indicate that Zuerlein will not be available for tomorrow’s Thursday night matchup with the Browns.
That should be the end of Duane Brown’s Jets’ career, at least, if he doesn’t retire.
I think he could still be a spot starter in the league because there are other teams with OL problems comparable to what the Jets have. Duane has had a career to be proud of if he does decide on retirement.