The Back End Is Already Breaking Down

Anez Cooper is on injured reserve. Minkah Fitzpatrick is questionable. Jarvis Brownlee Jr., listed third on the depth chart at defensive back, is active but has been in the injury report. The Jets haven't played a meaningful snap under Geno Smith yet, and the secondary is already being reshuffled.

The timing is particularly rough given how this offseason was constructed. The front office traded Sauce Gardner in July and watched Jamal Adams leave for Minnesota shortly after, betting that a rebuilt back end could hold while Smith and the offense found their footing. That plan assumed a degree of health the roster hasn't been able to provide. Qwan'tez Stiggers, who collapsed at a joint practice in August and was cleared just before the season, is listed second at cornerback. Samuel Womack is ahead of him. That is a thin room asking to cover NFL wide receivers in Week 1.

The broader picture, as I noted before the opener, was already fragile on the offensive side. What's becoming clear now is that the defensive side carries its own version of the same problem: not enough proven depth to absorb early attrition. Cooper on IR and Fitzpatrick's status uncertain means Aaron Glenn is managing around holes before his first game as a head coach has been decided. That is not where you want to be when organizational patience is already described as razor-thin.