Jets At The Top Of The NFL In Games, Quality Of Players Lost To Injury In 2019

Jets among the league leaders in games lost to injury this past season

The New York Jets had a shockingly high number of players lost to injury this year, a statistic which helps explain their struggles this year but also shows a certain level of resolve as well. 

All told, the Jets had 273 ‘Man-Games Lost’ this past season. This number is tied for second most in the league behind the Seattle Seahawks (275 ‘Man-Games Lost) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (who, like the Jets, had 273 ‘Man-Games Lost’). 

That the Jets rebounded from a 1-7 start this year to finish 7-9 is a testament to the team’s growing depth as well as the job done by head coach Adam Gase to coach-up the talent left on the roster. The Jets, despite being tied for the second most injuries in the league, exceeded expectations and finished well above that level in the standings. 

It wasn’t just the sheer number of games lost due to injury, but also the quality of the player that underscores the impact on the Jets roster this year. 

The Jets had the fifth-highest ‘Approximate Value’ of lost games of any NFL team. This metric uses the career statistical value of a player who has lost time due to an injury to show the quality and impact of missed time on the team. 

Only the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers had an overall higher quality of player lost due to injury than the Jets. Given that they are a rebuilding team with very little overall depth, their 7-9 record is shockingly good when all these injuries are considered. 

NFL end of regular season injury plot. Games missed to injuries versus team wins. Bubble size represents cumulative quality of players lost (Lost-av metric) https://t.co/C6QQXA8jke pic.twitter.com/IV27DIey1U

— Man Games Lost NFL (@ManGamesLostNFL) January 2, 2020

At his end of the season press conference last week, Jets head coach Adam Gase was asked about the rash of injuries to his team and if they will evaluate that troubling trend this offseason. Gase said the team has already begun that process. 

“We’re about two months ahead of you. I wish it was cut and dry and say, ‘Hey we had 15 hamstrings.’ But we’re having season-ending type injuries,” Gase told the media at the team’s facility.  

“We’ve had discussions with the training room, strength and conditioning, [general manager] Joe [Douglas] and I have had conversations, we’ve talked to other people. We’re going to continue to take deeper dives and all that when we meet with the staff as far as was it practice schedule, training camp, offseason, is it something we’re doing during the season? We’re combing through everything because we can’t have this happen again.”