NY Jets designate Bless Austin, Trevon Wesco to return from IR

The NY Jets have designated Bless Austin and Trevon Wesco to return from IR.

The NY Jets could be set to receive a pair of reinforcements in the coming days as both cornerback Bless Austin and tight end Trevon Wesco have been designated to return from injured reserve.

This means that both players will be allowed to return to practice starting this week, however, they aren’t eligible to play in a game just yet. The Jets will first have to activate them to the 53-man roster before they can suit up on game day.

That could theoretically happen as soon as this Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. The Jets will have three weeks to activate Austin and Wesco otherwise they revert to IR for the remainder of the season.

In other words, they’ll be back sooner rather than later.

The NY Jets expect both Bless Austin and Trevon Wesco to return soon

Austin has missed the Jets’ last two games after sustaining a neck injury in practice last month. The Jets placed the 24-year-old cornerback on IR on November 21st after he had started seven of the team’s first nine games.

It’s been a difficult season for Austin who entered the year with considerable hype following a strong finish to 2019. However, he’s failed to live up to the potential he showed last season.

Austin is ranked as Pro Football Focus‘ 99th overall cornerback out of just 125 qualifiers — a steep dropoff from last year where he finished as PFF’s 27th-best player at his position.

The last few games of the season will be integral for Austin as he looks to re-establish himself as a starter going into next year. Fifth-round rookie Bryce Hall has performed admirably in his absence, but Austin would likely be an upgrade over undrafted rookie Lamar Jackson.

As for Wesco, the 25-year-old tight end has been out since Week 8 with an ankle injury. In eight games this season, Wesco has just one catch for five yards — although that’s hardly a surprise.

Primarily a blocking tight end/H-back, Wesco has just three catches in his career and doesn’t figure to play a role on offense upon his return. However, he was a special-teams regular prior to his injury.

The Jets will look to have both of these players healthy as they close out what has been a disaster of a 2020 season.