The New York Jets injury list already has a key player on it, even before the first regular season game.
Edge Joseph Ossai ruptured his plantar fascia in one of his feet in the final preseason game against the New York Giants. Such injuries result in a “sharp, stabbing pain in the heel or arch of the foot, swelling, and bruising on the bottom of the foot,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. It’s a tough injury for an edge that has to rely on explosive movements.
Head coach Aaron Glenn said Ossai is “week to week” in his recovery, speaking to the official Jets website.
“You’d rather have [a rupture] than a partial tear because it takes a lot of the stress out of the foot,” Glenn said.
Ossai was expected to be a key reserve on the defensive line. He began camp on the physically unable to perform list (PUP), but came back in mid-August and was considered to be ready for action. He showed well in the drills, sacking rookie QB Cade Klubnik in the last week of camp.
“It’s everything I expect from him, I love that player,” Glenn said during the camp’s last week. “We know there’s some things he has to work on and we will continue to work on those things. … It [was] good to see him out there and the other guys just feed off that, too.”
Ossai signed a three-year contract with the Jets during free agency in March 2026. He played his first four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he was a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Ossai had 5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 2024 and 2025 with the Bengals.
He was expected to be a key part of the Jets pass rush, joining rookie and No. 2 overall draft pick David Bailey and the talented Will McDonald IV, who led the team with eight sacks in 2025.
When Ossai is healthy, he’s more than ready to join what should be an emerging group that could be a key to the team’s overall improvement. “I can’t wait to run through a couple walls this year,” he told the Jets official website.
