The Jets cut pitcher Sam Ficken on Saturday in a bit of a surprise.
Ficken, in nine games this season for the Jets, made 13 of his 15 field goal attempts and won 12 of 15 with extra points. Last week he had two blocked shots against the Browns, a field goal attempt and a point attempt later. Ficken missed five games with a groin injury this year after throwing 15 games for the Jets in 2019.
Chase McLaughlin will be the New England buttonhole on the final Sunday of the season. The Jets claimed McLaughlin waived the Jaguars ’waivers last month, but he hasn’t appeared in a game for them. McLaughlin appeared in three games in Jacksonville this season and won 4 for 5 on field goals and 3 for 4 on extra points. He will be the third shooter the Jets have used this season.
The Jets had two blocked kicks last week, which infuriated special teams coordinator Brant Boyer. Ficken had an extra point attempt and attempted a blocked field goal.
“This is a program with a child rating, so I’ll try to temper what I’m saying here,” Boyer said. “It was a collaboration of things. We gave up excessive pressure on the inside, a bit of a kick, and then we had to put a guy right in the last second to get him there in the second. I think we can definitely do a better job. ”
It’s all about stopping the inner pressure. They didn’t get as much thrust, and that’s the case, it’s not enough to normally block a kick. So we definitely have to fix it before this week. Viously, obviously, this can never happen, and it happened twice in a match. So, needless to say, I’m not happy about that, it’s true. “
Jets activated guard Greg Van Roten left the injured reserve on Saturday. He is expected to start on the right, where he started the first 12 games of the Jets season. He suffered a grass injury that put him on the injured reserve on December 12 … Corner Bless Austin was ruled out after disappearing this week with a non-COVID-19 disease. Lamar Jackson is expected to start in his place.
The Jets also signed DL Tanzel Smart and LB Sharif Finch on the active roster of the training squad. Noah Dawkins and Brady Sheldon were removed from the training squad.
Jets WR debutant Denzel Mims had a quiet game last week against the Browns, held without a catch for the first time in a game this season.
Mims has had a rookie year up and down that was hampered by hamstring injuries at first. He has thrown the skill that made the Jets take him to the second round outside of Baylor, but he has yet to have a monster game. Could he come on Sunday against the Patriots?
The Jets said there were reasons Cleveland detained him without any capture.
“I think there were a couple of things: coverage dictates where the ball goes,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “Obviously, the boys inside had a bigger game [Jamison] Crowder, [Braxton] Berrios i [TE Chris] Herndon. I think we had eight goals for the outside guys and we were 0 to 8. There were some disputed balls, a couple of shooting lanes that were thrown. Sometimes a game spins like that and when the ball goes out to your guys, they have to make disputed plays. And when you don’t make those plays, sometimes your line of statistics won’t be so good. “
Mims has 22 catches from 342 yards in eight games this season. He is still looking for his first touchdown.