Jets Country

Jets Place George Fant on Injured Reserve With Season-Ending Knee Injury

Fant started in 15 games for the Jets this season, taking over for Mekhi Becton as New York's starting left tackle back in Week 1.

Max Goodman

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George Fant's impressive season is over. 

After injuring his knee in Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York has placed the left tackle on injured reserve, ending his season with one more game remaining.

In addition to Fant, the Jets placed defensive lineman Bryce Huff on IR with an ankle injury. Tight end Dan Brown was also moved to the practice squad injured list.  

The team announced the handful of roster moves on Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that Fant was getting a second opinion on his knee and that the team would know more about his status later in the week. 

"His ACL is intact, so knock on wood, this is just stuff from a previous knee injury that he’s dealing with," Saleh said.

READ: Robert Saleh Provides an Update on Michael Carter's Concussion

When Mekhi Becton went down with a knee injury way back in Week 1, Fant was moved from right tackle to left tackle. He ended up holding it down on the left side for the entire season, starting in all but one game (he was sidelined in Week 15 with a knee injury). 

Fant was tremendous over those 15 games in green and white. The 29-year-old allowed only one sack all season, according to Pro Football Focus. 

With one game to play and nothing truly at stake for the Jets in Week 18 against the Bills in Buffalo, this isn't necessarily a devastating loss for New York. They've already dealt with a slew of injuries up front and across their roster recently, so this is just more adversity for the Jets to deal with in the final week of the regular season.

As a precaution, the Jets claimed another tackle (Greg Senat) off waivers earlier in the week. Now, there's a chance he could be called upon on Sunday. 

Otherwise, all New York can do is hope that this injury isn't serious for Fant. The lineman has one more year on his deal with the Jets and depending on Becton's health (along with how New York approaches the NFL draft and free agency), Fant could play a huge role on this team next season.

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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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