Gamesmanship knows no bounds in the modern NFL. Coaches will try to conceal the severity of injuries for as long as they possibly can in order to get a small advantage over their opponents, even if it means confusing their fanbase for weeks.
That's what has happened to the New York Jets in their latest injury report. Head coach Aaron Glenn has always been coy on injuries.
Glenn's conflicting comments
This week, though, he went back on previous comments made just last week. When it comes to wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, the former second-round pick has missed the last three weeks due to a finger injury. Glenn provided this update on the wideout last week:
"He's progressing faster than we thought that he would," Glenn said last Friday.
"Once we got to the end of it of knowing exactly what the prognosis was when it comes to his finger."
When asked outright if Mitchell received a procedure during his time off, Glenn was adamant:
"No, he didn't. He didn't."
Wednesday, Glenn provided a different update, and it leaves more questions than answers.
Glenn confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Mitchell did in fact have a procedure done early into the recovery on his finger.
"I think he waited like a week, week and a half before he had to see how he actually was going to progress and then we wanted to go ahead and get it knocked out," Glenn said.
The lack of transparency is nothing new. Glenn is not doing anything different than 31 other coaches around the league do. At the same time, it does open questions about other injured players that the team is dealing with.
More Jets injuries cloud the Week 6 outlook
Running back Breece Hall, edge rusher Joseph Ossai, and left guard Dylan Parham are all week to week. Ossai has been going back and forth on the field with a foot injury that has been bothering him since training camp.
There is good news on the injury front, though. Rookie wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. had his practice window open and was a limited participant in New York's walkthrough. The Indiana product being back on the field is huge for their offense.
"He's a really good player, but you never want any rookie to actually miss time because the reps are valuable for these guys," Glenn said. "And I think all of our rookies that's been getting these reps have been valuable, and we have a number of guys that's been out of practice."
But can Jets fans trust he'll actually have a chance to play in the next few weeks? Remember, the ankle injury suffered has kept him off the field for four of the first five games of his NFL career. Those are valuable reps, both in practice and in games, that Cooper has missed.
Expecting him to walk into Week 6 and be able to be productive isn't fair to the player.
But it also adds additional questions. If Cooper's practice window is open, that positions the Jets to open up a short-term IR slot. Will someone take his place? Mitchell, Hall, and Parham are all still week-to-week which means they aren't close to practicing yet.
Will fans get to know how serious the injuries are? Glenn may be practicing a normal gamesmanship tactic other coaches use, but it does bring in more questions the Jets shouldn't have to answer.
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