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Kind of forgot about this, but let’s not forget Olu Fashanu suffered an elbow injury in August, and those kind of linger.
He’s still wearing a brace on his right elbow.
We pondered this a few weeks ago: Which side would a right elbow injury impact an offensive tackle more—the left or the right side?
This game will be his first full game starting at right tackle in the NFL.
He came into the Jets-New England game late in the third quarter after Morgan Moses hurt his knee.
So now, Denver edge-rushers Jonathan Cooper and Nik Bonitto, will have legit NFL game film on Fashanu playing right tackle in a real NFL football game to mull over.
Will this elbow ailment and brace hinder his ability to deal with edge rushers trying to take the edge on his right side?
This is something worth keeping an eye on . . .
Speaking of injuries, the Jets are in much better shape on this front than Denver.
As we got into earlier this week, the Broncos lost three starters over the last couple of weeks – high-priced right tackle Mike McGlinchey and two starting linebackers – Baron Browning and Alex Singleton.
The Jets will be without Moses and C.J. Mosley. The Jets have not missed a beat with Jamien Sherwood filling in for Mosley. How Fashanu does filling in for Moses, with the other team having a week to prepare for him, remains to be seen, especially on the right side, not his natural position. He was a left tackle at Penn State. This flipping side thing at tackle isn’t as easy as it sounds.
On the rehab field today for the Jets during practice were three players who are on injured reserve, or other versions of that – quarterback Jordan Travis, defensive tackle Leki Fotu tight end Kenny Yeboah. Mosley was also on that field. Moses was not outside during practice today. He’s going to be out for a minimum of two weeks.
So overall, the Jets’ injury situation isn’t bad entering this game.
Staying on the injury front, while the Broncos lost McGlinchey in Week 2, backup Alex Palczewski did a nice job last week in his first NFL start, in Denver’s win over Tampa Bay. He reportedly gave up just one pressure. He was an undrafted free agent out of Illinois, who spent most of the 2023 season on injured reserve. He is the son of Andrzej and Bozena Palczewski who immigrated to Illinois from Poland, and Alex is fluid in Polish.
Jets Confidential asked Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on Thursday how Palczewski looked in his first start.
“I thought he did a really nice job, he did,” Ulbrich said.
But just like with Fashanu, now the opponent has real NFL game tape of him, so the Jets edge-rushers might be able to exploit him a little more than Tampa Bay. We shall see.
However, if Palczewski continues what he did last week, the Broncos line will be more of a challenge for the Jets than New England’s was. Once again, not taking anything away from the Jets’ improved defensive line work against the Patriots, but that O-Line is a mess.
The Broncos ran the ball well in their win over Tampa Bay last week . . .
Newsday’s Al Iannazzone asked Aaron Rodger, “Were you bothered last year by what [Sean Payton] said about (Nathaniel) Hackett? Is that on your mind at all going into this game? Back of your mind, front of your mind?”
“Nah, that’s old news,” Rodgers said. “We’ve all said things that we’d like to take back, some things have been said and taken out of context I’m sure from time to time, but I honestly haven’t thought about it until you just brought it up.”
He didn’t think about it until Al brought it up?
Who is buying that – LOL?
“He thinks about everything,” one writer said after hearing the quote.
Rodgers is smart for downplaying this in the press conference. The Jets rank and file don’t need to be focused on that entering Sunday’s game.
However, this is the first time Rodgers has faced Payton since the Denver coach disparaged Hackett in the summer of 2023.
Considering how close Rodgers is to Hackett, he’d probably love to get a little payback here for a man who is like family to him. So if the Jets are in control of the game, and can pile it on a little . . .
September 27, 2024
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