NY Jets news: Michael Carter II injury, Sauce Gardner update, Breece Hall apology

The NY Jets failed to win in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, losing by a final score of 32-19. During the game, starting slot cornerback Michael Carter II exited in the second half with an apparent injury.

The Jets provided an update soon after, calling it an ankle injury and listing him as questionable to return. Carter never did make it back onto the field, leading to some concern about his status moving forward.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters after the game that Carter re-injured the same ankle that had caused him to miss weeks of training camp in the summer. The good news, however, is that it doesn't appear to be serious.

Saleh told reporters that Carter could have returned to the game but that the Jets held him out as a precaution. His status is worth monitoring this week, but Carter appears to have avoided any major injury. Brandin Echols would start in his place if Carter were unable to play next week.

More NY Jets news:

What happened to Sauce Gardner?

Jets fans were left bewildered when star cornerback Sauce Gardner exited the field for a handful of plays toward the end of the first half. The initial assumption was that Gardner's absence was injury-related, but the Jets confirmed to ESPN that he was not on the sideline for a medical reason.

Gardner was spotted kneeling on the sideline with his helmet in hand before eventually returning to the field. Saleh was asked about Gardner's confusing absence after the game and he revealed that his star cornerback was simply trying to catch his breath.

Gardner said that he got the wind knocked out of him on a tackle he made and was struggling to breathe for a few minutes. There was no official injury designation, which is why the Jets' PR department told ESPN it was not a medical situation.

So there you have it. Gardner's bizarre absence has a fairly straightforward explanation. The conspiracy theories can be put to rest.

Breece Hall apologizes for his performance

Monday night was not Breece Hall's best game as a member of the Jets. The star running back was bottled up by a stingy 49ers defense for most of the night and had a costly fumble in the first quarter that led to San Francisco's first points of the game.

Hall finished with just 54 yards on 16 carries for a disappointing average of just 3.4 yards per carry. He added five catches for 39 yards in the air and did score a touchdown, but it definitely wasn't Hall's best performance.

The former second-round pick told reporters after the game that he actually apologized to Aaron Rodgers for not playing up to his potential. Rodgers apparently told Hall not to worry about it and that there's still a lot of football left to be played.

It's encouraging to see Hall take responsibility after a challenging game for the Jets on both offense and defense. Rodgers is right, though — it's only one game.