Jamien Sherwood

Jets’ Jamien Sherwood Done For Year

Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood will miss the rest of the year with a torn Achilles tendon (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). The Jets will place Sherwood on injured reserve today, opening up a spot on the 53-man roster. 

[RELATED: Jets’ Wilson To Miss 2-4 Weeks]

Sherwood has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for the Jets. Head coach Robert Saleh has started him four times out of five games, a testament to the Auburn product’s on-field leadership.

With Jamien, it’s almost like: ‘Hey man, you don’t have to communicate for everybody.’ The amount of stuff he gets out of his mouth, pre-snap wise, with regards to close calls, checks and all of it is fascinating for a rookie,” Saleh said recently (via Joey Chandler of NJ.com). “He’s very, very confident. He knows everybody’s job and so our confidence of him with the green dot is fine.”

Of course, the Jets also watched Zach Wilson exit Sunday’s loss with a PCL injury. The quarterback will be out for at least two weeks and possibly up to four weeks as the Jets try to salvage their season.

Jets, LB B.J. Goodson Agree To Deal

B.J. Goodson is returning to New York. The veteran linebacker agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Jets on Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

This contract will be worth up to $2.1MM and bring the former Giants fourth-round pick and multiyear starter back to the Big Apple. Goodson worked out for the Jets on Tuesday. Interestingly, the Jets also auditioned former big-ticket free agency addition Avery Williamson, whom they traded to the Steelers at last year’s deadline.

Goodson, 28, has 43 career starts; 14 of those came for the Browns last season. The former Giants and Packers cog established a key role in Cleveland, with which he made a career-high 91 tackles and intercepted two passes to help snap a 17-season playoff drought. Pro Football Focus graded Goodson as an upper-echelon coverage linebacker in 2020. The Titans met with Goodson in April. Otherwise, he enjoyed a quiet free agency stay.

The Jets are down Jarrad Davis with an injury that required an IR stay, and C.J. Mosley has rarely seen the field during his two-plus-year Jets tenure. While Mosley returned to action to start this season, Jet linebackers Jamien Sherwood and Blake Cashman are dealing with injuries.

Williamson, 29, was not connected to a team in the offseason. The previous Jets regime signed the ex-Titan standout to a three-year, $22.5MM deal in 2018. Williamson, however, missed all of 2019 due to injury and finished last season in Pittsburgh. He started four games with the Steelers, who were then without Devin Bush. Williamson led the 2018 Jets with 120 tackles, contributing three sacks as well.

AFC East Notes: Diggs, Patriots, Jets

Cole Beasley gutted through a tough injury in the playoffs with his broken fibula, and he wasn’t the only Bills receiver to do so. Buffalo star Stefon Diggs recently revealed he had a torn oblique that he played through at the end of the season, as Ryan Talbot of NewYorkUpState.com writes. Diggs was on the injury report with an oblique issue late in the year, but the team was intentionally vague about what was wrong with him.

Now we know, and it makes Diggs’ playoff performances even more impressive. He shined during the postseason, going for at least 106 yards and a touchdown in each of the Bills’ wins over the Colts and Ravens. It’s a pretty significant injury, but obviously it shouldn’t effect Diggs in 2021.

Here are a couple other nuggets from around the AFC East:

  • James White ended up back with the Patriots on a one-year, $2.5MM deal after testing the free agent waters, and it sounds like he was anticipating a bit more. After hearing White talk to the media this week, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes that it “seems fair to say free agency didn’t unfold the way he might have envisioned.” In describing his “soft market,” Reiss says White highlighted the league’s salary cap crunch as a result of COVID-19. He adds it “sounded like that was the best offer,” the pass-catching specialist received, so he didn’t take any discount to play for Bill Belichick again.
  • The Jets just drafted Jamien Sherwood in the fifth-round, and he could be set to make a bigger impact than your typical fifth-round rookie. Sherwood was a linebacker/safety hybrid prospect, but Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes that the Jets “see him as an ideal fit as a weakside linebacker in their 4-3 front” and that “there’s some thought he could emerge as the starter.” Cimini says Sherwood’s draft stock was hurt by the fact that he ran a disappointing 4.74 40-yard dash at his pro day. Sherwood only became a full-time starter for Auburn this past season, his junior campaign, so it’ll be a big leap if he becomes an NFL starter right away.

Jets Sign Rookie Jamien Sherwood

The first NFL Draft signing of 2021 is on the board. On Wednesday, the Jets inked fifth-round safety Jamien Sherwood (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter).

Sherwood, an Auburn product, was the combo breaker on the Jets’ early run of offensive players. Interestingly, the Jets listed him as a linebacker on their press released after he was taken No. 146 overall. The 6’2″, 220 pound defensive back may be moved to edge rusher, something that he told the Jets he’d be willing to do during the draft process.

“I take pride in that,” Sherwood said about his ability to cover the middle of the field (via the team website). “Being a safety, you’re the last line of defense, so that’s just stopping touchdowns. You do everything you can for your team. Whenever I get my chance to make a tackle, I make it.”

In his final year on campus, Sherwood notched 75 tackles, three tackles for loss, and one sack. With Sherwood under contract, we’ve got 258 stragglers left to go. Most of those signings will be listed in our daily roundups, with dedicated posts for early round selections.