NY Jets place cornerback Brian Poole on injured reserve

The NY Jets have placed slot cornerback Brian Poole on injured reserve.

The NY Jets‘ secondary will feature two new starters for the foreseeable future after the cornerback position received a significant makeover on Tuesday.

Just hours after it was reported that the team had released veteran Pierre Desir, the Jets announced that they had placed starting slot cornerback Brian Poole on injured reserve.

Poole sustained a pair of injuries in the team’s Week 9 loss to the New England Patriots hurting both his shoulder and knee. There was mild optimism that he wouldn’t miss any time, but that clearly won’t be the case.

The 28-year-old cornerback will be forced to miss at least three weeks while he rehabs which will certainly be a major blow to a Jets’ secondary that’s struggled this year.

Despite the secondary’s struggles this year, Poole has been one of the few bright spots. After a standout 2019 season, Poole has proven that he’s no one-year wonder with arguably an even better performance in 2020.

Poole is currently ranked as Pro Football Focus‘ No. 7 overall cornerback with an outstanding grade of 77.1. He’s been one of the best slot cornerbacks in football yet again and he’s done so despite a severe drop-off in talent around him.

Who will the NY Jets replace Brian Poole with?

Replacing him will be no easy task, but for a Jets’ team that’s not exactly looking to compete right now, things could certainly be worse.

The Jets will likely turn to Arthur Maulet to start in the slot for the time being. Maulet started six games down the stretch last season and played quite well.

He’s been sidelined for most of the season but returned in Week 8 to fulfill his role on special teams. Maulet played 28 defensive snaps in Week 9 and will now be expected to fill a starting role.

The Jets will also see more of rookies Bryce Hall and Lamar Jackson following the release of Desir. There’s also undrafted rookie Javelin Guidry who could fill in for Maulet in the slot. Don’t forget about recently claimed former New York Giants cornerback Corey Ballentine too.

Brian Poole has been one of the most consistent performers on the Jets this season. But much like pretty much everything else with the Jets this season, good things just don’t seem to last.