The Jets lost their promising running back investment early last season, seeing Breece Hall‘s rookie year end in October due to an ACL tear. The team plans to slow-play the talented back’s return.
Hall will not play in preseason games for the Jets, per the New York Post’s Brian Costello, who adds the Iowa State alumnus will probably spend a chunk of training camp on the Jets’ active/PUP list. A stay on the Jets’ reserve/PUP list — a designation that mandates a four-game absence to start the regular season — should not be expected, as of now.
This gradual reintegration is not expected to involve regular-season absences, Costello adds, with the Jets believing Hall will be ready by Week 1. That September date will mark nearly 11 months since Hall’s tear (Oct. 23, 2022). That is generally viewed as well within the rage for players to come back from ACL tears, barring extreme damage. Hall, 21, said in January he expects to be ready for the Jets’ opener. Once back in uniform, Hall will be a key part of the equation on offense.
The Jets considered trading back into the first round to make sure they landed Hall last year, but after making three first-round picks, the team was able to select him at No. 36 overall. Hall started slow but was beginning to look like an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate at the time he went down. He rushed for 213 combined yards in wins over the Dolphins and Packers in Weeks 5 and 6, and he ripped off a 62-yard touchdown run against the Broncos before going down during that game.
New York has been linked to Ezekiel Elliott, but Robert Saleh poured some cold water on that prospective signing recently. The Jets should be considered unlikely to add a high-profile veteran, per Costello. The team re-signed Ty Johnson last month and still has Zonovan Knight and Michael Carter on rookie contracts. Hall coming back to team with Garrett Wilson, who ended up winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, and, in all likelihood, Aaron Rodgers, will represent a rather notable set of offensive pillars for a Jets franchise mired in major American sports’ longest active playoff drought.
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