A week into Jets training camp, Marcus Maye’s status remains unchanged.
The third-year safety is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, a bystander in practice waiting to get cleared following shoulder surgery that limited him to six games last season.
“It’s just his body healing. There’s nothing he can do to speed up the process,” coach Adam Gase said Wednesday. “He’s just waiting until it feels right, to where he has all his strength back.”
Maye was limited to 7-on-7 drills in the spring, but the hope was he would be cleared in time for training camp. But that has yet to happen.
“He’s working extremely hard, he is killing it in the weight room and training room. Everything he’s done, he’s been unbelievable in the classroom,” Gase said. “The coaches have been very pleased with how hard he’s been working. He’s dying to get out there.”
The Jets have opted not to use Maye in individual drills in camp because they prefer to use the active roster spot on a player who can participate fully, just in case Maye isn’t ready once the regular season begins.
“We’re not anticipating that,” Gase said. “It’s just part of the precaution.”
Kicker Chandler Catanzaro’s shaky start to training camp continued with two more missed field goals, consecutive kicks from 41 and 45 yards. He did rebound to hit from 51. Though Catanzaro has been inconsistent, Gase dismissed a suggestion the Jets could bring someone in to challenge the 28-year-old, who spent last year kicking for the Buccaneers and Panthers after playing for the Jets in 2017.
“He had a really good spring. That’s kind of part of training camp, you start working through things,” Gase said. “Sometimes that happens. We got an experienced guy that’s had success.
“This group feels good about … what he’s done in this organization before, and what he’s doing out here starting in the spring. That’s how we evaluate – not just training camp.”
To end team drills, Sam Darnold completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder on 4th-and-goal, but there was some debate over whether it was a legal play. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson complained to the official it was a pick play, which Crowder later admitted it was.
“I cannot confirm nor deny,” Gase said with a smile, when asked his opinion on the play. “It was a good play. It was right on the goal-line. We have the real officials out here. They didn’t call a flag.”
“The offense will always get the last call,” Johnson said.
Former Jets wide receiver and current ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson attended Wednesday’s practice.