INDIANAPOLIS — Mike White was not the only big injury the Jets suffered Thursday night in their blowout loss to the Colts.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said safety Marcus Maye suffered an Achilles tendon injury and “it does not look good.” Saleh’s tone indicated that Maye likely ruptured his Achilles and will be lost for the season.
“I’m more concerned for Marcus than what we’ll do defensively to try to fill that void,” Saleh said after the Jets’ 45-30 loss to the Colts. “He’s a fantastic young man. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. I’m sick for him.”
Saleh looked visibly upset when he checked on Maye. The injury occurred in the third quarter and Maye dropped to the ground without any contact. It is a brutal blow for Maye, who is playing this year on the franchise tag and is scheduled to be a free agent in March. A torn Achilles would keep him sidelined into next season and wreck his chances at a big payday. The Jets and Maye failed to reach a contract extension in the offseason.
It also will be a blow to a Jets defense that has a lot of youth in its secondary. The Jets lost Lamarcus Joyner, their other starting safety, in Week 1.
“It’s huge,” Saleh said of the impact of losing Maye. “Marcus, you look at that secondary, he’s the vet. You’ve got a lot of second-year and rookie players in that back end and Marcus was kind of that settling force back there and obviously, a heck of a football player.”
TE Tyler Kroft made a great 26-yard catch on a pass from QB Josh Johnson in the second quarter, but then left the game with a chest injury. Kroft has been battling a back issue this season. It was unclear if this injury was related to that.
Rookie WR Elijah Moore scored his first receiving touchdown of his career and then added another one late. Moore had seven catches for 84 yards and the two scores. It was his second straight strong game.
“Just more opportunity,” Moore said of what has sparked this run. “I feel like the more games I play, the more comfortable I get. It’s probably just more opportunity.”
Johnson’s touchdown pass to Moore in the third quarter was his first touchdown pass since Dec. 9, 2018, when he played for Washington and threw one against the Giants.
WR Corey Davis (hip) was inactive for the second straight game Thursday against the Colts. LT George Fant (ankle) was active.
The Jets placed DE Bryce Huff (back) on injured reserve on Thursday, meaning he’ll miss at least three games. They activated rookie LB Hamsah Nasirildeen off of IR prior to Thursday night’s game with the Colts.
They also elevated Johnson and DE Jabari Zuniga off of the practice squad. Johnson served as the backup to White with Joe Flacco still not ready to play. … Besides Davis, the other inactives were: RB Tevin Coleman, QB Zach Wilson, DL Jonathan Marshall, Flacco, S Jarrod Wilson and G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.