Ainge and Chatman Sent to Injured Reserve
With injuries mounting, RB Jesse Chatman and QB Erik Ainge were both placed on the Injured Reserve list last night for the Jets.
Chatman hurt his knee Sunday against the Chiefs in the fourth quarter while blocking for Leon Washington during a kickoff. Mangini shared Monday that Chatman was probably going to be shelved for the remainder of the season.
As far as Ainge? The kid might be great, but his spot was borrowed at best. What team, other than Tampa Bay carries four uninjured Quarterbacks? This move has been as telegraphed as a Favre deep ball. It might have happened later than I thought, but here’s what I wrote on August 18th …
It’s not often that backup QBs get the chance to take snaps, and rookie Erik Ainge watched it all play out from the sideline. While Ratliff again outshone Clemens during the game, it seems that Mangini is very interested in working out the second slotting (as he should be) first, and then will let the third quarterback take care of itself. The fact that Ainge didn’t play at all only makes me think moreso that they are going to try and limit his exposure to other teams and sneak him onto the Injured Reserve … a tricky proposition for rookies as they pass through waivers to do so.
And August 12th …
Add in the fact that Mangini is setting up the press and public with his recent talk of Erik Ainge throwing funny and I think you have a perfect set up for the team potentially placing Ainge on the IR for the season.
So, It was two months later than I thought, but the Jets did in fact end up stashing him on the IR. There’s just too much circumstantial evidence. How else do you describe a magic foot injury that was not listed and now has him injured?
They haven’t even practiced yet since Sunday. Going to the IR means that players aren’t required to get gamechecks, so you’d had to imagine that the Jets and Ainge’s agent understood they would keep him active as long as they could.
And this isn’t the first time. The Jets did something similar with Chansi Stuckey last year and they probably did it in Year One but I wasn’t aware of it at the time.
The real story here with putting Ainge on the IR is that the Jets needed that roster spot back due to all the recent spate of injuries. The roster at the beginning of the season started out with a wildy skewed four QBs and seven WRs. It’s now down to three and six, much more realistic numbers.
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AInge had to be on the roster on opening day or they would have lost him to waivers (San Fran liked him, amongst others). Beyond that, they’ve obviously kept him on the active roster to maximise his development and have him able to practice for as long as possible.
So, who is going to replace them?
A return of Pociask, Caulcrick or Cummings has been discussed, but don’t rule out them signing some outsiders as they did in 2006 when, dissatisfied with Schegel’s development, they picked up two linebackers (Ryan Riddel and Cody Spencer).
Another name to add to the mix is pass rusher Jason Trusnik, who is now eligible to come off the PUP and could push Gholston and Murrell who have done little so far. Another spot will open up soon, when Nugent recovers, because they must plan to stick with Nuge otherwise they’d already have released him.
we’re on the same page! that was the next logical post! :)
Bent and Bassett-
All of the background if fine but the Jets had perfect chance to stash him before the season began-the hand surgery. I just can’t believe 4 QB’s on roster with all the dings, learning curves etc is better than carrying an OL, RB, WR or DB and letting them learn the system and develop. Every NFL team carries 3 RB’s and now we have no one to fill in. This not a powerhouse team that can afford such luxury. And let’s not even talk about 2 kickers for half a season or more. I just don’t get it and it is very demoralizing.
They couldn’t do that because (a) if you put a player on IR before they have gone onto the opening day roster, you have to cut them and therefore they must go through waivers first and (b) once on IR, you cannot practice with the team, although you can attend meetings, so I’m sure they wanted him to stay on the 53 man roster for as long as possible, always knowing that once the short term injuries piled up, they had the option to move him onto the IR.
Carrying two kickers when they are clearly happy with the injured one makes perfect sense to me (I know some fans aren’t happy with Nugent, but if the coaching staff are, then obviously they aren’t just going to cut him). At the end of the day, 8 guys are inactive every week, so it’s not like holding a spot for any injured player has wrecked their ability to put out a complete 45 each game.