New York Jets Shaq Evans having shoulder surgery

New York Jets rookie wide receiver Shaq Evans wasn’t having the best of training camps, but things went from bad to worse when he suffered a significant shoulder injury after a few days of struggling. Rex Ryan stated that the injury was “pretty bad” and added that he expected Evans to miss the entire season. It looks like that’s indeed a possibility, as Evans tweeted this morning that he is undergoing surgery today.

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It’s unclear how significant the injury or surgery is, but I wouldn’t expect him to play this season. While the Jets could use depth at wide receiver, Evans didn’t play particularly well before the injury and should be redshirted by the Jets. I would expect him to hit the injured reserve, but we’ll see what happens. Fellow fourth-round rookie receiver Jalen Saunders is the more impressive player and should be a big factor this year, but the Oklahoma and Fresno State product had a “medical issue” before a single-car crash; his status also remains unclear.

Evans has an advanced understanding of route-running and disguising routes against receivers, and he was capable of making some big plays while at UCLA. Brett Hundley’s top target, Evans should be a nice possession receiver in this league and looks like a future No. 4 receiver for the Jets behind Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, and Saunders (or David Nelson). He’ll need to have a strong camp and preseason next year to lock up a roster spot, because I don’t think he’ll be out there this year. We wish Evans nothing but the best in his recovery, because it always hurts to see a rookie go down so early, especially someone who seems as nice of a person as Evans.