NY Jets activate LB Patrick Onwuasor from injured reserve

The NY Jets have activated linebacker Patrick Onwuasor from injured reserve.

The NY Jets will return from their bye week with a little additional help on defense following the announcement that linebacker Patrick Onwuasor has been activated from injured reserve.

The veteran linebacker has spent the last few months on injured reserve with a knee injury he suffered in training camp. But after nearly four months on the sideline, he’s finally set to make his Jets debut in Week 11.

The Jets also announced that outside linebacker Frankie Luvu had been designated to return from IR. Luvu will have up to three weeks to be officially activated from injured reserve. If he’s not activated before that time, he will revert to IR for the rest of the season.

Luvu played in the first six games for the Jets this season before going down with a groin injury. He played a season-high 36 percent of defensive snaps in the team’s Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals a week before his injury.

The Jets will hope to see Luvu return before long and provide an extra boost to the special-teams unit. However, the emergence of Bryce Huff and the return of Jabari Zuniga could keep him from seeing substantial defensive snaps.

The same might not be true for Onwuasor, however.

Patrick Onwuasor might immediately play substantial snaps for the NY Jets

The Jets signed Onwuasor to a one-year, $2 million contract in the offseason expecting him to compete for one of the starting linebacker jobs. After C.J. Mosley opted out, he seemed like a natural replacement.

However, a knee injury suffered in the summer prevented that from happening. Since then, the Jets have traded Avery Williamson and seen Blake Cashman sidelined with multiple injuries.

Neville Hewitt has started all nine games at linebacker while Harvey Langi filled in for Williamson two weeks ago finishing with 10 tackles. It will be interesting to see if Langi starts again with Onwuasor now back in the fold.

The former Ravens’ linebacker has started 31 games over the last three years and was a fixture in Baltimore’s defense for a few years. A pretty productive player, many saw him as a dark-horse contributor for the Jets this season.

Unfortunately, injuries robbed him of a golden opportunity.

With Cashman expected to miss another game this week, the Jets will roll with the trio of Hewitt, Langi, and Onwuasor at linebacker with special-teamer Bryce Hager also on the roster.

Expect Onwuasor to receive some looks at linebacker relatively soon, especially if another player goes down with an injury.