D'Angelo Ponds appears primed for NFL debut after Jets' latest injury report

The New York Jets released their latest injury report on Thursday afternoon, and several players appear to be trending in the right direction to appear in this Sunday's matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

First and foremost, second-round rookie D'Angelo Ponds logged a full practice for the first time this season, signaling that the young cornerback may be ready to make his NFL debut. He has been absent since the start of training camp, dealing with a calf injury.

Edge Will McDonald IV popped up on Thursday's injury report with an ankle injury; he was listed as limited. It's possible something occurred in practice, and the Jets are just being cautious considering their current issues with depth at the position.

Other than that, defensive lineman David Onyemata was back after a veteran's rest day on Wednesday, and linebacker Jamien Sherwood and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. practiced in full, despite Sherwood previously being listed as limited.

New York Jets need D'Angelo Ponds to be a plug-and-play defensive back

It's not an overreaction to say the Jets are in desperate need of healthy bodies on the back end of their defense. Minkah Fitzpatrick's groin injury, which is likely to knock him out for at least the next three games.

When Ponds was drafted, he was expected to be a Day 1 starter at nickel cornerback. His summer injury put a damper on those plans.

Brownlee played incredibly well for the Jets in the slot this past Sunday, and he's unlikely to give up his starting spot so soon, but it will be helpful to have Ponds as an alternate when needed.

The Jets felt the need to sign defensive back Jordan Clark to the active roster this past week, signaling that they do feel like they're in need of some extra help in the secondary. Ponds could be the help they were looking for.

Other New York Jets injury news

Aside from Ponds and McDonald, there were no other major surprises on the Jets' Thursday injury report. Fitzpatrick, Cooper, Kene Nwangwu, and Joseph Ossai were all unlikely to suit up based on comments from Aaron Glenn earlier in the week.

McDonald's injury is certainly one to monitor. If he can't go on Sunday, the Jets will likely need to call up a player from the practice squad, like preseason standout Nate Lynn.

Sherwood may have been a concerning one as well, if he hadn't been upgraded to a full participant on Thursday. Linebacker is a rather thin position group, and New York would've been forced to turn to either Kiko Mauigoa or Marcelino McCrary-Ball.

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