Is Haason Reddick playing tonight? Latest update on NY Jets All-Pro pass rusher

The NY Jets will be hoping to secure their second consecutive win against their bitter rival New England Patriots when they play host at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football in Week 3.

The Jets' home opener should be cause for celebration, especially after the team notched their first win of the season in a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. But there's still an ever-present elephant in the room with the organization.

Or rather an elephant who still hasn't showed up to said room.

The Jets remain embroiled in a contract dispute with star edge rusher Haason Reddick after acquiring him in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles this past April. What once seemed like a minor offseason inconvenience has turned into a full-on disaster for everyone involved.

Is Haason Reddick playing tonight?

In short: No, the Jets will not have Reddick tonight when they take on the Patriots. This will mark the third consecutive regular-season game that Reddick has missed, ballooning his total fines to well over $6 million. He'll be pushing $10 million soon if he continues to hold out.

Reddick is forced to forfeit just shy of $800,000 for every regular-season game that he misses. That's on top of the millions of dollars in fines he received for skipping mandatory minicamp and training camp this summer.

There was some belief that the tragic Achilles injury suffered by Jermaine Johnson this past Sunday could lead to a resolution with Reddick in the near future, but that hasn't happened at this time.

Part of that could be attributed to the short week the Jets are facing. The two sides will have more time to revisit negotiations and potentially reach a deal in the 10 days following tonight's game. If a deal isn't reached by then, it's possible Reddick never even suits up for the Jets.

There have been rumblings that the Jets could simply look to trade Reddick before he even plays a game, although it's hard to imagine he has much of a market at this point. The Jets likely won't be motivated to trade him for any less than the value they might receive in a compensatory draft pick in the offseason.

It's still impossible to say exactly when or if this situation will be resolved, but what we do know is that the Jets will be without Reddick for a third straight game tonight. Expect to see plenty of Will McDonald, Micheal Clemons, and others in his place.

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