Jets' Sauce Gardner lands on IR with season-ending hamstring injury
01/04/2025 06:02 PM
The New York Jets will wrap up yet another dismal season with Sunday’s home game against the Miami Dolphins. While Week 18 will mark the official end of the Jets' 2024 campaign, cornerback Sauce Gardner believes some of his teammates are already checked out following a brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 17. Now the All-Pro defensive back will miss the season finale with his own early exit.
The Jets moved Gardner to injured reserve on Saturday, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport on X. The third-year corner has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury for several weeks.
Gardner injured his hamstring in Week 13's loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The strain then forced him to sit out against the Dolphins the following week. It was just the second game he missed in his three-year career. Now the injury will cost Gardner another game.
The two-time Pro Bowler had a down season, recording career-low marks in games played (15), total tackles (49), and passes defended (9). He recorded one sack and one interception this year. The pick ended a long drought for Gardner. His game-sealing Week 15 interception against the Jacksonville Jaguars was his first since Week 9 of the 2022 season.
Sauce Gardner's third season with the Jets ends in disappointment
The Jets got wrecked by the Bills in last Sunday's 40-14 rout. The embarrassing loss hit Gardner hard. With the team at 4-12 and long since eliminated from the playoffs, it wouldn't make sense for the star defender to gut out an injury in the season finale.
Expectations were sky high in New York this year, making the grim reality of the 2024 campaign all the more painful. Even with a healthy Aaron Rodgers, the Jets failed to impress, missing the postseason for the 14th consecutive year, the longest drought in professional sports.
The team fired head coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas as the franchise's remarkable dysfunction became front page news. Rodgers couldn't deliver despite being surrounded by a bunch of familiar faces from his Green Bay days. Now the veteran quarterback could retire after the season. While he plans to take some time to decide on his future, it's unlikely that he returns to the Jets.
Meanwhile, New York has begun its search for a new head coach. The team interviewed Mike Vrabel on Friday and will meet with former coach Rex Ryan next week. The Jets have also expressed interest in speaking with Arthur Smith and Kliff Kingsbury.
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