New York Jets Star Cornerback Headlines Team's Inactive Players List

The New York Jets will be without one of their best defensive players on Sunday after he sustained an injury.

Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Jets cornerbacks Sauce Gardner (left) and D.J. Reed (4) before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

This is a huge game for the New York Jets.

Not only are the Tennessee Titans a team they should beat, but starting off 0-2 makes it that much harder for them to make the playoffs.

Nobody is panicking after just one week, but it was eye-opening how much the defense was completely dominated and pushed around by the San Francisco 49ers.

Head coach Robert Saleh and the members of this team are confident they'll get things fixed, and against a second-year quarterback in Will Levis and an inexperienced and poor offensive line, this should be a contest that is dominated by this group.

Unfortunately, they'll have to do so without their star cornerback D.J. Reed.

#Jets inactives:

CB DJ Reed
OT Carter Warren
RB Israel Abanikanda
DE Eric Watts
DT Leonard Taylor II
OL Max Mitchell

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) September 15, 2024

As the insider highlights, he joins the list of Jets players who won't suit up for this important contest.

Outside of him, the only real notable inactive is running back Israel Abanikanda who continues to be buried on the depth chart after New York selected two players at his position in this year's draft.

Not having Reed could pose some issues.

Brandin Echols will start in his place, a player who has been with the Jets since 2021 as a sixth round pick of the draft.

He's appeared in 42 games for New York, starting 15. He's accrued 83 total tackles, 63 of them being solo and two for a loss, while also defending 13 passes, picking off three balls, and taking two of them back for scores.

While those numbers look great on paper, it will be a whole different animal when he's tasked with shutting down the receiving option as the cornerback across from two-time All-Pro Sauce Gardner.

Echols could very well hold up and make this a moot point until Reed is healthy enough to return, but this will be something to watch on Sunday with the defense needing a bounce back performance.