NY Jets place RB La’Mical Perine and K Sam Ficken on injured reserve

The NY Jets have placed La’Mical Perine and Sam Ficken on injured reserve.

The NY Jets were hoping to use the final six games of the 2020 season to analyze their young players, particularly their rookie class. Unfortunately, for at least one member of the 2020 draft class, that evaluation period has been put on temporary hold.

The team announced on Tuesday that they had placed both running back La’Mical Perine and kicker Sam Ficken on injured reserve after each suffered injuries in the team’s Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ficken had already missed the Jets’ last three games with a groin injury that he picked up in practice shortly after Week 6. He returned this past Sunday after a four-week absence only to miss a pair of extra points.

Evidently, it doesn’t appear as though Ficken was fully healthy as he’s now landed on IR two days after his poor performance. His injury likely contributed to his two misses this past weekend.

The Jets will once again turn to Sergio Castillo to take over kicking duties with Ficken sidelined for at least three weeks. Castillo excelled in Ficken’s absence connecting on 6-of-7 field goals and all four of his extra-point attempts.

Castillo’s only miss was a blocked field goal and he managed to make a pair of field goals from 50+ including one from 55 yards out. The former CFL, AAF, and XFL specialist will once again be given an opportunity to impress with Ficken sidelined.

The NY Jets will also be without rookie running back La’Mical Perine

As for Perine, his injury — a high-ankle sprain — was a new one that he picked up in Sunday’s loss. Perine had been receiving a larger workload in recent weeks essentially splitting touches with Frank Gore.

The hope was that his usage would continue to increase as the season came to a close so that the Jets could properly evaluate the fourth-round rookie. However, he’s now set to miss at least three weeks and possibly more time.

That means we’ll likely see a heavy dose of Gore for now with Ty Johnson perhaps sprinkled in as well. The Jets also signed Josh Adams to their active roster and the former Philadelphia Eagles back should provide additional running back depth.

The team also announced that they had signed tight end Ross Travis to the active roster. Travis was temporarily promoted from the practice squad for the Jets’ Monday night loss to the New England Patriots in Week 9, but soon after found himself on the COVID-19 list.

This marked the first and so far only Jets player to land on the reserve list since the start of the season. Travis was activated on Monday and now he hopes his stay on the active roster is a more permanent one.

The Jets will return home this Sunday to take on the Miami Dolphins looking to avoid falling to 0-11.