11:36am: The Jets officially placed Allen on the IR, per a team announcement. To fill their roster vacancy, they signed veteran running back Khalil Herbert. Herbert terminated his practice squad deal with the Seahawks on Wednesday, per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic, freeing him up to join the Jets’ backfield.
Herbert’s arrival in New York will also be a reunion with Justin Fields. They were both part of the Bears’ 2021 draft class and played together for three-and-a-half years in Chicago. Herbert was a solid but unspectacular rusher in his first three seasons, but fell out of favor in 2024 and was traded to the Bengals, where he had little impact for the rest of the year.
9:52am: The Jets are placing second-year running back Braelon Allen on injured reserve with what head coach Aaron Glenn called a “pretty serious knee injury,” according to Brian Costello of the New York Post.
Allen went down in Week 4 with an initial report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport claiming that he “suffered an MCL sprain that will likely land him on injured reserve.”
Glenn seemed to confirm that diagnosis on Wednesday but added that Allen was seeking a second opinion. Apparently, further evaluation has not changed Allen’s outlook: the 2024 fourth-rounder will be sidelined for at least four games as he recovers.
Despite some predictions of a second-year breakout, Allen has not been able to steal many touches away from starter Breece Hall. He has only carried the ball 18 times for 76 yards and one touchdown while adding two receptions for 17 yards through the air.
Hall leads the backfield with 52 carries for 238 yards, and his 13 catches and 108 receiving yards also rank second on the team. Quarterback Justin Fields has been the team’s secondary ballcarrier with 24 carries for 178 yards (7.4 YPC).
Hall and Fields may not see a big bump in carries in Allen’s absence. His touches are more likely to go to third-stringer Isaiah Davis. The 2024 fifth-round pick has been efficient on a limited sample size, averaging 5.7 yards per carry on 35 carries (30 as a rookie, five so far this year). The Jets will likely add another running back to their roster, either by promoting Lawrance Toafili from the practice squad or making an external signing. They do have Kene Nwangwu on the roster, but he is almost exclusively a returner with 61 total offensive snaps in his career in his five-year career.