The Jets still have three games to play in 2025 season. But Friday brought another sign that it’s all about 2026.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson will remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season, coach Aaron Glenn announced on Friday morning as the team prepared for Sunday’s game at New Orleans.
Wilson will miss 10 of the final 11 games with a knee injury. But Glenn said the receiver’s rehab is going well, and he should be back on the field for the offseason program in the spring. But with the Jets long out of playoff contention at 3-11, and only draft position on the line in the final weeks of the season, the team saw no need to rush him back.
“We just felt it was best for him and for us as a team,” Glenn said. “He’s on board. He’s going to be smart with his rehab. He’s a key cog in what we’re doing here. To be able to get him back in the offseason program, fully healthy and ready to go – we felt that was the best decision for all of us.”
Wilson signed a four-year, $130 million extension back in July, a day before the team announced cornerback Sauce Gardner, picked minutes before Wilson back in 2022, had also inked a long-term extension.
But things didn’t go as planned. The Jets lost their first seven games. Gardner was dealt to the Colts in a shocking deadline-day move. And Wilson was relegated to spectator status on the way to his first sub-1,000-yard season as a pro.
Wilson didn’t complete a game after suffering a knee injury late in the Week 6 loss the Broncos in London. He missed the next two games and returned in the win over the Browns after the bye, but he made it through only 19 snaps before limping off the field. He suffered a knee sprain, was placed on injured reserve, and hasn’t played since.
Remarkably, despite playing in only seven games, Wilson still leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and 395 receiving yards – despite much of his action coming when the Jets were struggling mightily to even move the ball on offense under quarter back Justin Fields.
It’s just further proof of how important Wilson is to the Jets’ offense. And while he’s expected to be back at full strength in 2026, there are many questions about who will be around him. The Jets are among the NFL’s leaders in cap space and would be wise to go out and get a proven No. 2 to pair with Wilson, who faced double coverage throughout this season as the top receiving threat on the field.
They also have two first-round picks after the Gardner trade, including one that’s likely to fall in the top 5 – where they almost certainly will draft the quarterback they hope to lead them to a brighter future. Whoever it is, he’ll be relying on Wilson to pick up where he left off before his lost 2025.
