Prior to Friday's practice, Jets HC Aaron Glenn said five players – including WR Garrett Wilson and CB Sauce Gardner – won't play vs. the Bengals Sunday in Cincinnati. Glenn, who continued to remain mum on his starting QB in Week 8, said Tyrod Taylor is questionable for Sunday's game due to a knee injury.
Wilson, the Jets' leading receiver, will miss his second consecutive game with a knee ailment, while Gardner, the club's No. 1 CB, will be inactive after sustaining a concussion during the Green & White's 13-6 loss to the Panthers last Sunday.
"Any time you lose a player of that caliber, it's always concerning because he's one of the best in this league," Glenn said of Gardner. "But we have other guys that have to step up and that's what this league is, man."
Rookie cornerback Azareye'h Thomas, a third-round pick from Florida State, will start his first NFL game for the Jets. After logging 42 defensive snaps and 84 special teams plays over his first seven games, Thomas (6-1, 197) is set to take center stage against arguably the NFL's top WR tandem of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
"I'm going against two of the best in this game," Thomas told reporters Friday afternoon. "So growing up, these are the games you live for to play in. That competitive nature that my mom instilled in me still lives to this day, so I'm excited for the challenge man – those are two great guys. They have a great offense but we also have a great defense. I'm just excited for this challenge and excited to get to work."
After Gardner went down against the Panthers, Thomas appeared in 27 defensive snaps and totaled 3 tackles and 1 PD. He also was in coverage on Andy Dalton's game-sealing 33-yard connection to Xavier Legette with 1:36 remaining.
"I thought he's done a pretty good job of being ready when called upon to be able to go play," Glenn said. "He made a play at the end of the game against Carolina and then they made a play on him, but that's the life of a corner and those things happen. The thing about him is he's not losing his confidence at all. I'm excited about how he's going to progress and how he's going to continue to progress, and he's going to be a key cog to what we do as he continues his years of playing."
Taylor is one of eight players questionable for the Bengals' contest. Glenn said the liked the way the group – Taylor, RB Breece Hall (knee), TE Mason Taylor (quad), LB Quincy Williams (shoulder), WR Josh Reynolds, CB Qwan'tez Stiggers (hip), edge Jermaine Johnson (ankle) and nickel Michael Carter II (concussion protocol) – is trending. Either Justin Fields or Taylor, who replaced Fields in the second half last Sunday, will lead the offense against the Bengals.
"We had a great week of practice with our guys," Glenn said while keeping things close to the vest. "Our guys know, we're going to keep that between us. That's how it's going to be."
While the improved Jets' defense could get an added boost with LB Quincy Williams' return to the lineup, six members of the Jets' 2025 Draft Class could play prominent roles Sunday. Thomas will join S Malachi Moore, a fourth-round pick from Alabama, in the secondary.
"Like a lot of these guys, you would want them to progress and learn and get the right reps in order to be able to get better and most of those reps you want them to be in practice," Glenn said. "But for some odd reason, all those guys have to play a key cog in what we've been doing. [LB] Kiko Mauigoa has been starting for us for a while, AZ is now going to be a starter for us. But when you have those guys able to come in and play for us and when the play well like what Kiko's done, that only helps your team. So, we're excited about those guys getting the reps in and listen, they're still learning. They're going to make mistakes and we know that. But again, we're going to own those mistakes, we're going to improve and we're going to keep going."
