The Jets have activated RG Greg Van Roten from injured reserve and waived K Sam Ficken. The Green & White also signed DL Tanzel Smart and LB Sharif Finch to the active roster. The team elevated LBs Noah Dawkins and Brady Sheldon from the practice squad for the season finale against the Patriots.
Van Roten (6-3, 305) was placed on IR on Dec. 12 and was designated to return to practice on Wednesday. He started 12 games for the Jets at right guard and sustained a foot injury against the Raiders in Week 13. He didn't miss a snap this season before the injury. Van Roten, 30, joined the Jets in the offseason after three seasons with the Panthers. He's played in 59 games (39 starts) since 2012.
Ficken (6-1, 192) played in nine games for the Jets this season and made 13 of his 15 field-goal attempts. He also converted 12 of his 15 extra points. He kicked in 15 games for the Green & White last year and made 70.4% of his field goals and 88.5% of his extra points. For his career, Ficken has connected on 72.9% of his field goals (35 of 48) and 87.5% of his extra points (49 of 56).
Smart (6-1, 295) signed with the Green & White's practice squad on Oct. 14 and was elevated for the Week 9 game against the Patriots. Before that, he was most recently with the Browns P-squad after stints with the Rams (2017-19) and Bills (2020). He was a sixth-round pick of the Rams in 2017 and has totaled 20 tackles in 31 games.
Finch (6-4, 250) was signed to the Jets practice squad on Nov. 3 after he was released from the Bears P-squad on Oct 23. In 2018, he signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent out of Temple and played in 23 games for Tennessee over two seasons. He totaled 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 40 tackles. Finch then had stints with the Bengals (2019) and Raiders (2020).
Dawkins (6-1, 215) was signed to the practice squad on Sept. 22. He was originally signed by the Bengals in 2019 as an undrafted free agent out of The Citadel. Dawkins was waived later that training camp and signed with Cincinnati's practice squad before the Buccaneers signed him to their active roster. He played in 10 games with Tampa Bay and was waived Sept. 5.
Sheldon (6-5, 231) was released by the Bengals in September. He originally signed with the Raiders in 2017 as an undrafted rookie out of Ferris State. From 2017-19, Sheldon had stints with the Raiders, Browns, Packers and Bengals. He played two games with the Raiders in 2017 and one with the Bengals in 2019.
