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Jets Place Cornerback Bless Austin on Injured Reserve

The New York Jets placed cornerback Bless Austin on injured reserve with a neck injury before Sunday's Week 11 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers

Max Goodman

One day before taking on the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jets depleted secondary officially got thinner.

Cornerback Bless Austin was placed on the injured reserve with a neck injury, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

Austin, who has played in eight of the Jets' nine games thus far, missed practice after starting Week 11 with neck discomfort. After sitting out on Thursday, the 24-year-old was limited in practice on Friday and listed as questionable ahead of Sunday. Now, he'll be sidelined for at least the next three games.

READ: Jets' Final Injury Report For Week 11 vs. Chargers

Following the injury, Jets head coach Adam Gase was optimistic about Austin playing this week, revealing he had "a positive MRI result." He said before practice on Friday that if Austin's workout went well, he'd be good to go for Sunday in Los Angeles.

Evidently the injury was more serious and warranted a trip to the IR.

In eight games (seven starts) this season, the sixth-round pick out of Rutgers had 43 tackles, two tackles for loss, three pass defenses and one forced fumble.

As a result, New York will attempt to contain rookie quarterback Justin Herbert and the high-octane Chargers offense without Austin as well as recently released Pierre Desir and veteran Brian Poole (who is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury).

READ: How the Jets' Defense Plans to Hinder Justin Herbert on Sunday

At cornerback, that leaves rookies Bryce Hall, Lamar Jackson and Javelin Guidry along with Arthur Maulet and waiver pickup Corey Ballentine. 

Gase said earlier in the week that it'll be "all hands on deck" at corner as other defensive backs—like rookie safety Ashtyn Davis for instance—could be used at the position as well. 

In other news, the Jets activated linebacker Frankie Luvu from the IR and signed quarterback Mike White to the active roster. 

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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