Jelani Woods has turned Kenyon Sadiq’s absence into a real chance to move up the Jets’ tight end pecking order. Sadiq has missed all of training camp with a hernia and is set to miss his second straight preseason game Friday night, leaving the team to sort through other options while his return remains uncertain.
That matters now because Woods has already done enough to keep himself in the conversation. He caught a 2-yard pass on two targets against the Buccaneers last Friday, a small line on paper but a useful step for a player who had not appeared in a regular-season game from January 2023 through December 2025 before getting back onto the field with the Jets. Earlier this month, Aaron Glenn praised him, a notable nod for a player trying to win more than a temporary look.
Woods’ path has been a long one. He previously played for Frank Reich in Indianapolis, then worked his way into four games for the Jets last year after coming through Oklahoma State and Virginia. That background helps explain why the team has kept him in the mix even as the injury list around him has shifted.
It also explains the pressure on Sadiq once he is cleared. The Jets drafted him this past April with the expectation that he would share reps with Mason Taylor and keep Jeremy Ruckert important in the offense, but those two names now stand to matter even more if Sadiq’s hernia recovery drags on. A hernia often needs time away from full-speed work, and missing all of camp suggests the issue is not a quick one.
For now, the most important question is not whether Woods has earned another chance. He has. It is whether Sadiq can get back in time for next weekend against the Giants, because if he cannot, the Jets may have to keep adjusting a tight end plan that was supposed to include him from the start.
