The injury bug continues to bite the Jets as they prepare for their Week 16 matchup against the NFC-West leading Rams (8-6) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams will not participate in Wednesday's walk-through because of a hamstring injury and the defense will be without S Jalen Mills for the remainder of the season. Mills broke his collarbone coming down with his interception last Sunday at Jacksonville and will be placed on injured reserve.
"A break, slight fracture," interim HC Jeff Ulbrich said. "It's an unfortunate loss, especially as thin as we are in the safety room."
Mills, who signed with the Green & White's practice squad on Sept. 24, was first active in Week 6 against the Bills. He started every game since and had 44 tackles, 6 pass defenses and a forced fumble as he emerged as a vocal leader.
"It's so rare, as we all know, for a guy to come in midseason and have that sort of impact," Ulbrich said. "You see guys come in and contribute all the time, but for him to become the leader that he did, especially amongst the back end, was pretty cool to see. I know he's been around a lot of has experience, but he was a valuable addition. One that we'll miss, for sure."
Though the depth at safety took a hit with Mills' injury, the cornerbacks will receive a timely boost because D.J. Reed (groin) will be a full participant and will step into a challenging test Sunday against the Rams dynamic receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.
"D.J., to me, is tailor made for these guys," Ulbrich said. "Cooper Kupp and Puka, they're scrappy, they're tough, they're elite separators in the slot. They understand how to challenge leverage, beat your leverage, they know how to separate the top of routes and to defend that, you need a DB that's got some real grit, toughness and some scrappiness to him. That's a D.J. to a T."
The Rams' receivers extend past Kupp, who leads the team with 63 receptions and Nacua, whose 805 receiving yards are a team high. Demarcus Robinson paces LA with 7 touchdown receptions and 15.5 yards per catch while speedy fourth-year WR TuTu Atwell has 513 yards on 36 catches.
"It's a challenge in a lot of ways," Ulbrich said. "For one, just from a pure coverage standpoint, you got three, four really good receivers that can separate, get open, understand football at a high level and then got the hands and the quarterback to make you pay when they do get open. On top of that, you have a coach in Sean McVay that if he's not the best, he's one of the best from a schematic standpoint.
"He'll deep dive into our defense, the rules within our defense and he'll put those rules in conflict. We're going to have to be elite as far as our details and all the little nuances within our defense because he's going to test us. We're going to get tested when we play man because they're really good players and they know how to beat man. Then when we play zone, our detail has to be impeccable."
The secondary could also be without CB Michael Carter II (back) who won't participate in Wednesday's walk-through along with LB Quincy Williams (body soreness) and RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle).
Ulbrich said that RB Breece Hall (knee) "is probably more far along" than rookie RB Braelon Allen (back) in terms of their availability for Sunday's game.
