Omar Cooper Jr. is back. The Jets will activate him from injured reserve and send him onto the field Sunday against the New England Patriots after the receiver missed time with a high ankle sprain.
Cooper was a full participant in practice Friday, the last step before his return, and the timing matters because the Jets are 2-3 and still trying to piece together a passing game that has been thin for weeks. He played only four snaps in his NFL debut, but one of them became a 30-yard reception against the Tennessee Titans after he broke several tackles, the kind of play that made him part of the plan before the injury on the first drive of the first game of the season.
That plan has been interrupted repeatedly. Breece Hall has been ruled out with a quadriceps injury and will miss his third straight game, while Adonai Mitchell is out with a finger injury and will miss his fourth straight game after undergoing a surgical procedure last month to repair the problem in his right hand. Left guard Dylan Parham will also miss his third straight game, leaving the Jets short in more than one place as they turn to a healthier group for Sunday.
The absence of Mitchell has already hit the depth chart hard. The Jets have not received much production from their second, third and fourth wideout spots since his injury, even though Garrett Wilson leads the team with 31 receptions. That is why Cooper's return matters beyond one roster move: it gives the Jets another receiver who has already shown he can turn a catch into yards after contact, and it comes at a time when they need that kind of playmaking more than they need another placeholder.
The roster move is straightforward because the Jets have an open spot, so activating Cooper from injured reserve is the step that makes him eligible to play. Aaron Glenn said he was “finishing up” the process earlier in the week, and the move now puts the question on the field rather than the injury report. If Cooper is used the way the Jets expected before the ankle sprain, Sunday becomes the first real test of whether their receiving group can finally start to look whole again.
