Jeff Cumberland Injury: NY Jets TE a game-time decision

New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland (87) gets tackled by Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Michael Boley (53) during the first half at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland suffered a minor concussion in last week’s embarrassing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and he was initially expected to play in this week’s game against the New Orleans Saints. However, it wasn’t made clear that Cumberland ever passed all the mandatory concussion tests, thus making him seem unlikely to play this week. Jets head coach Rex Ryan stated on Friday that the team would not rule Cumberland out, which made most of us believe that Cumberland would be a game-time decision.

Well, the New York Post’s Brian Costello is reporting that Jeff Cumberland will indeed be a game-time decision today against the Saints, but the next part of his tweet is where things really get interesting. Per Costello, Cumberland has “another” injury that is being evaluated by the Jets medical staff, and this new injury is what is making Cumberland a game-time decision.

It’s interesting to hear that a source told Costello that the “concussion is not” the Jets chief concern with Cumberland, because it means that Cumberland passed all of the necessary concussion tests. We’ll know more about his status closer to gameday, and Cumberland is definitely a full-blown, game-time decision. He’s had back-to-back disappointing games (some of it due to injury, some of it due to drops) statistically, so we’ll see if he can bounce back as Geno Smith’s “safety valve” in the middle of the field this week (if he plays, of course).

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