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As you know by now, Jets 2024 fifth-round pick, quarterback Jordan Travis, has retired due to a horrific leg injury he suffered last year playing for Florida State.
“On November 18th, 2023, my life and career took an unexpected turn,” Travis said in a statement. “I gave everything I had to the rehab process, but despite my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with my doctors and medical team, I have been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply.”
In March, his agent was critical of how the Jets handled his rehab.
“His rehab with the Jets was not the best,” Deiric Jackson told ESPN. “They tried to rush him. It was too fast. There was pressure on the coaching staff, and they tried to get him going sooner than the timeline really was. That caused the setback, and we had to shut him down completely.”
It’s hard to confirm this allegation one way or another because the Jets and the player have never commented on what Jackson said.
But one thing you never sensed being around the team was that there was a “rush” to get him back last year.
The team had Aaron Rodgers, Tyrod Taylor, and a similar style QB to Travis, Adrian Martinez, a gifted runner, with the team.
I could be wrong, but I never felt a vibe that they were in a rush to get him back.
Some fans on social media are now being critical of former GM Joe Douglas for picking him after his horrific broken leg injury.
That isn’t fair.
Players have come back from this injury, and also, when you take a flyer in the fifth round on a player who likely would have gone a lot higher if not for the injury, there is nothing wrong with that. That is what the late rounds are for – rolling the dice on players with “traits” or really talented players coming off injuries.
And keep him mind the Jets had two 2024 fifth-round picks, and the other one, running back, Isaiah Davis, looks like a late-round steal.
So they did fine in the fifth round.
As a long-time football observer, there are certain injuries that, if I were a player, I’d retire with, and a compound leg fracture is one of them. Same with back or neck surgeries.
Things like torn knee ligaments, triceps, biceps, rotator cuffs, absolutely come back, but compound fractures in the leg, I would call it a day.
And Travis is doing just that.
What kind of NFL QB could Travis had been?
He was probably a player who could have stuck around a while as a #2.
Like a lot of college prospects these days, he needed to work on progressions and pre-snap reads. Would have this stuff improved, who knows, and you can say that about most college prospects. Until they show they can do it on the NFL level, you just don’t know. In college, they can usually throw to wide-open first reads.
But it’s good that you at least got a rookie contract after the injury, signing a 4-year deal for $4.2 million, so he got some NFL money.
Also, you would have to think he’s in a position to land a big job at Florida State, a program he helped turn around. He is an icon in Tallahassee. Don’t big shocked if he lands back with that program in some capacity.
May 1, 2025
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