The Jets claimed center/guard Wesley Johnson off waivers from the Steelers to replace the injured Brian Winters, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. The Jets confirmed this afternoon that Winters is done for the year with a torn ACL, tweets Shalise Manza Young of The Boston Globe (on Twitter).
The Steelers cut Johnson loose on Saturday to make room for safety Ross Ventrone. Johnson, a Vanderbilt product, was taken in the fifth round of the May draft. He competed for one of the final offensive line spots on the Steelers’ active roster in preseason but was ultimately edged out and relegated to the taxi squad. Thanks to Winters’ season-ending injury, the lineman figures to see playing time at guard for the Jets, who take on the Patriots in just a few days.