Lorenzo Mauldin on the outside looking in

Linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin is on the outside looking in with the New York Jets as things aren’t looking good for him in training camp or even in preseason action.

It wasn’t all that long ago that linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin was the talk of the New York Jets. He was a fast linebacker with a tremendous amount of upside to be a high-quality starter on defense. In his rookie season, Mauldin showcased his speed and ability to get to opposing quarterbacks with four sacks to his name.

That was then and this is now. Unfortunately for Mauldin, he had a severe back injury in 2016 that required surgery to correct. Due to that, he missed all of the 2017 season and was set to bounce back this offseason to prove he can still be a contributor.

Mauldin hasn’t done much of anything so far with training camp in full swing for the Jets. As per Rich Cimini of ESPN, he was hit with another injury in training camp. Mauldin was limping off in a practice before last week’s preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons.

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It was labeled as “leg tightness” but at the end of the day, Mauldin has been fading away with each passing day due to his inability to separate himself from other linebackers in the positional group. Cimini even mentioned how Mauldin has almost always been working with the third-string team in training camp.

Talk about a fall from grace for a once-promising linebacker that started his pro career with a bang. It is unlikely that Mauldin makes the final roster of the Jets once training camp is in the books. Not only due to missing an entire year’s worth of football but for the fact that he’s limited in training camp practices and with the bottom players of the depth chart.

The Jets stocked up on linebackers this offseason and added other potential pass rushers to their defense with hopes of finally addressing their issue of not being consistent in pressuring opposing quarterbacks. Mauldin will likely not factor into their future plans as they prepare to bounce back from two straight losing seasons in 2018.