Jelani Woods keeps making his case to become a remarkable Jets comeback story

New York Jets tight end Jelani Woods knows just how important his offseason breakout could prove when management scans the roster during final cutdowns. 

But after losing so much of his career to injury thus far, Woods remains grateful that he’s even getting snaps. 

"I will never complain about being on the field,” Woods said on Monday. “Every day you get a new opportunity to take a next step forward to getting better, I feel like I’m doing that, and I want to keep it up.”

Woods continued to turn heads last Friday night, scoring a 13-yard touchdown against the Steelers, and he’s become an immensely popular figure among the fanbase for reasons beyond his receiving ability.  

New York Jets fans should be falling in love with tight end Jelani Woods

Forget about Woods’ statistics or how many targets he might get when the season begins. The overall numbers don’t mean much in situations like his. 

Here you have a third-round tight end who lost consecutive seasons to injury. Few, if any, would have blamed him if he decided it was time for life beyond football, and he might have had options. Woods graduated from Oklahoma State with a management degree and took graduate classes at Virginia. He wasn’t pulling a Cardale Jones; that much seems apparent. 

But the Jets thought highly enough of Woods to sign him last fall — and remember, this was before they hired Frank Reich, who had coached him in Indianapolis. The comeback alone was a rare bright spot amid another failed season. 

No one is expecting Woods to become the next Travis Kelce, with or without a global pop star in a personal suite. Depending on Kenyon Sadiq’s health, the fifth-year veteran would be the No. 3 tight end at best in Week 1. 

Woods has said and done all of the right things this offseason, which is an admirable feat in itself. Deep down, he likely knows that there is an extremely difficult path to receiving regular-season offensive snaps. 

By staying healthy and maximizing his opportunities in Sadiq’s absence, Woods may have firmly put himself back on NFL teams’ radars. Considering his age and injury history, he might profile as a practice squad candidate or the final tight end on the roster. 

Considering how badly things went in Indianapolis, Woods is indisputably one of the Jets’ most significant summer winners, and we’re not trying to be dramatic when we say that his journey is inspirational. He’s a reminder to keep fighting until you hear that bell ring. 

As of Monday afternoon, Glenn had not confirmed how much action the Jets’ starters would get against the Giants. Woods should nonetheless factor into their offensive plans, though for his sake, he’ll ideally be playing more with Cade Klubnik than Bailey Zappe. 

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