The Jets’ depleted pass-rushing unit suffered another blow Sunday, as Jermaine Johnson was carted off the field with an Achilles injury.
Johnson was ruled out quickly after his leg appeared to buckle during the third quarter of the Jets’ game against the Titans in Nashville.
Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas engulfed Johnson in a hug as he sat on the cart. The cart then took the linebacker off the field, with Johnson’s head covered by a towel.
Last season, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers missed all but four offensive snaps after suffering an Achilles tear in the 2023 opener.
A 2022 first-round pick, Johnson ranked second on the Jets last season with 7.5 sacks and made his first career Pro Bowl.
A prolonged absence by Johnson would loom particularly large considering the Jets remain without fellow Pro Bowl pass rusher Haason Reddick, who missed his second game Sunday amid a hold out for a new contract.
The Jets sent a conditional 2026 third-round pick to the Eagles for Reddick in March, hoping the 29-year-old star would replace the team’s 2023 sack leader, Bryce Huff, who signed with Philadelphia during free agency.
But Reddick, an impending free agent, held out throughout the offseason and requested in August to be traded, which general manager Joe Douglas said he would not do.
This offseason also saw the Jets move on from defensive Quinton Jefferson, who had 6.0 sacks last season, and defensive end John Franklin Myers, who had 3.5.
Reddick was due to make $14.25 million this year, but he forfeits $800,000 with every game he misses.
Sitting out the entire season would cost Reddick about $21.75 million, ESPN reported Sunday, between his forfeited salary, $4.5 million in fines and another $3 million in discretionary bonus forfeiture. He and the Jets are reportedly not close to reaching an extension.
The Jets badly missed Reddick in their season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, during which they managed only 10 pressures and four quarterback hits. The Niners converted six of their 13 third down attempts.
Reddick boasts four consecutive seasons with at least double-digit sacks, including last year when he recorded 11.0 with Philadelphia.
Huff led the Jets with 10.0 sacks last season, then signed a three-year, $51 million deal with Philadelphia.