NY Jets return 4 players from the COVID-19 list ahead of Week 16

The NY Jets have been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak this week, one that has caused some to even insist that this Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars should be postponed.

However, on Friday, they received a bit of good news regarding a few players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The Jets announced that they had activated two players from the list, wide receiver Jeff Smith and cornerback/special-teamer Justin Hardee.

Practice squad defensive end Hamilcar Rashed Jr. was also restored from the COVID-19 list while linebacker Blake Cashman was moved from the list back to the injured reserve where he previously was.

Head coach Robert Saleh spoke to the media about the team's COVID outbreak on Friday and said that the team does not expect any additional players to be activated from the list prior to Sunday's game.

He also said that the Jets are preparing to be without him against Jacksonville, although they have a plan in place in case he tests out of protocols as well.

The NY Jets are getting a little healthier ahead of Week 16

While the players returning from the COVID list likely won't have major roles in Sunday's game, it is encouraging that the Jets are getting healthier and not the opposite.

Smith could actually see some significant playing time with the Jets expected to be down their top three wide receivers. Elijah Moore and Corey Davis are on IR while Jamison Crowder seems unlikely to play after not practicing on Wednesday or Thursday.

That leaves the Jets with just four healthy receivers on their active roster including Keelan Cole, Denzel Mims, and Braxton Berrios.

The Jets still have 16 players remaining on the COVID-19 list with some of the more notable players being Alijah Vera-Tucker, John Franklin-Myers, Folorunso Fatukasi, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Michael Carter II.

There's still a chance that a few of them will be able to test out of protocols prior to Sunday's game, but the Jets are moving forward under the assumption that all of them will be unavailable.

The Jets' roster is still feeling the effects of this COVID outbreak, but at the very least, the team seems to be trending in the right direction.