New York Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein will be activated from injured reserve and is set to play against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich announced on Friday that Zuerlein is returning after missing seven games due to a knee injury in his left, non-kicking leg. Before the injury, Zuerlein had struggled, and since then, the Jets have had issues at the kicker position, with Riley Patterson, Spencer Shrader, and Anders Carlson filling in.
“He came back, looked healthy, kicked the ball well this week,” Ulbrich said about Zuerlein. “So, he’ll be our guy going forward here.”
Zuerlein is officially listed as questionable but fully participated in the last two practices.
Wide receiver Davante Adams is also listed as questionable but is likely to play after taking part in limited practice on Friday due to a hip injury that kept him out on Thursday.
Adams, who joined the Jets from Las Vegas in October, has caught 56 passes for 719 yards and six touchdowns on 94 targets in nine games with the Jets. He is 72 yards away from his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season and his sixth in total.
“I think at this point, it would be a crying shame to not be able to get that,” he said.
Adams and Aaron Rodgers are tied with Miami’s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton for the third-most touchdown connections (82), including playoffs, by a quarterback-wide receiver duo.
Rodgers needs one more touchdown pass to become the fifth player in NFL history to reach 500 in the regular season, and Adams said he would “love” to catch that milestone pass.
“I got 200, I got 400,” he said, referring to Rodgers’ previous touchdown passes while they were teammates in Green Bay. “So it would be dope to get 500 as well. I think his 200th was my first, so we got some special connections in the past, so it’d be great.”
Adams mentioned he was injured early in the game against the Rams but still caught seven passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. He remains hopeful about playing against Buffalo.
“We’re still working on it,” Adams said. “We’re treating it, trying to get it right so we can hopefully be there and ready by game time.”
Cornerback Sauce Gardner is also questionable with a hamstring injury that kept him out in the second half of New York’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Zuerlein, who re-signed with the Jets last offseason on a two-year deal, made just nine of 15 field goals and missed one extra point in the first eight games this year. He had been one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers in the previous two seasons with the Jets.
Patterson kicked in one game after Zuerlein was placed on IR. Shrader also kicked in one game before he was signed off the practice squad by Kansas City. Carlson had been the kicker for the last five games but missed a field goal and an extra point against the Rams. The Jets also signed Greg Joseph to the practice squad to create competition.
Ulbrich said earlier in the week that Zuerlein would be considered after his long absence.
“I think sometimes that can be powerful, an opportunity just to take a deep breath, get his body healthy again and get a restart,” Ulbrich said. “So I’m excited for him to do his thing these last two games and really demonstrate to everybody who he is as a kicker.”
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams could return after missing last week due to a hamstring injury. He was listed as questionable and was limited in practice all week.
Also questionable but expected to play are right tackle Morgan Moses (knee), safety Tony Adams (ankle), cornerback Michael Carter II (back), defensive end Haason Reddick (neck), and defensive lineman Braiden McGregor (ankle).
Defensive tackle Leki Fotu was ruled out with a knee injury.
