NY Jets: The curious case of Alex Lewis’ non-injury related absence

NY Jets’ left guard Alex Lewis continues to miss practice for an undisclosed reason.

The NY Jets were without starting left guard Alex Lewis on Sunday and it remains unclear why that was the case. Three days later we still don’t have any answers.

Lewis was a surprise inactive in Sunday’s Week 12 loss to the Miami Dolphins prompting fans to ponder about the cause of his absence. Head coach Adam Gase was asked about the decision to make Lewis inactive after the game and his answer didn’t reveal much.

Gase indicated that it was a “team decision” to make Lewis inactive and that it was “not injury-related.” Little more was revealed, but Gase did say that they were “going to handle everything internally.”

Other than that, not much else is known, but many have speculated that it’s some sort of disciplinary issue. Lewis is notably one of the most passionate members of the Jets’ locker room.

What’s especially odd is that the absence has carried over into this week. Lewis missed multiple days of practice last week for this so-called “non-injury related” issue, and he was held out once again on Wednesday.

Gase declined to say whether or not Lewis would be able to play on Sunday, but he did say that the veteran guard was “shooting” to play. But the overall gist of Gase’s comments can be summed up by “I don’t have an update for you.”

His words, not mine.

The NY Jets could certainly benefit from having Alex Lewis back as soon as possible

Right guard Greg Van Roten was one of many who were caught off guard by Lewis’ mysterious absence.

“I’m not really sure what’s going on with him. So we were surprised, but hopefully things are okay and we’ll see what happens. I’m not really sure what’s going on, honestly.”

The recently-claimed Pat Elflein started in place of Lewis on Sunday and would likely be the player the Jets turn to if Lewis can’t play this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Elflein has experience playing both center and guard and filled in admirably this past week. Ideally, though, the Jets would love to have Lewis — who had played nearly 90 percent of the team’s offensive snaps this year before last week — back as soon as possible.

But until then, the curious case of Alex Lewis’ absence will continue.