AFC East Notes: Stacy, Fitzpatrick, Pats, Fins

With Bilal Powell sidelined in recent weeks, Zac Stacy has seen a little more action in the Jets‘ backfield as a backup to Chris Ivory, and even got a chance to act as the team’s kick returner on Thursday night. However, those kick-return duties resulted in an injury for Stacy, who fractured his ankle, according to head coach Todd Bowles (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post).

While Stacy has yet to officially land on injured reserve, the injury figures to end his season. Powell is expected to return from his own ankle injury soon, so the team may not need to another running back to its roster, with Powell and Stevan Ridley available to back up Ivory.

As we wait to see what roster move the Jets make in the wake of Stacy’s injury, let’s round up a few more notes from around the AFC East….

  • Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s game, Bowles also confirmed that Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will have surgery on his left thumb on Friday, and should be ready to play vs. the Texans in Week 11 (Twitter links via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News).
  • Given how well they’ve played this year, Patriots defenders Dont’a Hightower, Chandler Jones, and Jamie Collins all appear to be in line for big new contracts at some point in the not-too-distant future, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. All three players will see their current deals expire at the end of the 2016 season, and Howe believes that all three could earn $10MM+ annually on their next contracts, so it’ll be interesting to see if New England tries to retain all of them beyond next season.
  • The Dolphins have not approached wide receiver Rishard Matthews, who is in a contract year, about a new deal, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. It sounds to me like any extension discussions between the two sides before Matthews reaches free agency will happen after the season.
  • Free agent running back Bronson Hill paid a visit to the Dolphins this week, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
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