FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets will have to try their luck at finding a new returner.
Wide receiver Lucky Whitehead will have surgery this week on his broken foot, leaving the team’s kickoff and punt return duties uncertain.
“I’m not sure about the timetable, though,” coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday, “but he’ll be out some time.”
Bowles did not rule out Whitehead potentially returning this season.
“Yeah,” the coach said, “it’s possible.”
Whitehead was the front-runner to serve as the Jets’ primary kickoff and punt returner. He was injured during practice Monday and watched Tuesday from the sideline on crutches.
The injury is the latest in a string of bad news in a strange summer for Whitehead. He was waived by Dallas last month after two seasons following a shoplifting incident that turned out to be a case of false identity. New York claimed Whitehead off waivers on July 26.
Now, the Jets will use the next few weeks of training camp and the final three games of the preseason to determine whether they have someone in-house or if they’ll have to look elsewhere.
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