Empire Writes Back
Fansided

Antonio Cromartie Avoids Serious Knee Injury

By Kenneth Teape

facebooktwitterreddit

Antonio Cromartie and the New York Jets received some great news Monday afternoon. Cromartie, who crumbled to the field in the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns looked to seriously injure his knee as it was a noncontact injury. The Jets feared the worst, believing he may have torn ligaments in his knee. Well, they should be relieved to know that Cromartie’s injury isn’t a tear, and merely a sprain.

This is a huge break for Cromartie and the Jets, as the injury didn’t look good when it happened on the field. Cromartie could put so little pressure on his knee that he needed two coaches to help him off the field. Instead of being out for the season with a torn ACL, Cromartie is listed as week-to-week with the sprain. The Jets have yet to even rule Cromartie out for their Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football.

Also on Empire Writes Back: Who is the greatest QB in Jets history?

Cromartie injured his knee on a Johnny Manziel scramble in the second quarter. But, Cromartie was about 20 yards away from the play, as he scrambled right and Cromartie was on the left side of the field. His knee buckled or twisted it looked like and the next thing we saw was Cromartie crumbled on the turf.

But, the Jets avoid a big problem with Cromartie not being out for the season. The Jets bolstered their lineup with Darrelle Revis and Buster Skrine along with Cromartie, but they would have suffered a big blow had Cromartie been lost for the season. A big part of the rebuilding process in the secondary was bringing back these two veterans, and losing one would have put a big dent in that process.

More from New York Jets

On Sunday, Cromartie was replaced with second year player Marcus Williams. Williams stepped up, getting an interception and defending three more passes. He should continue seeing an expanded role with Cromartie out. Skrine should as well. He was brought in to play the slot between Revis and Cromartie, but could move outside a little bit with Cromartie out.

There is still a chance that Cromartie doesn’t miss any time, which would be a huge surprise after what was witnessed on Sunday afternoon. Even if he has to miss a couple weeks, it is still better than him for only a couple of games instead of 15 and whatever the Jets potentially play in the postseason.

The Jets also received positive news regarding Lorenzo Mauldin. Mauldin, who suffered a scary injury in the second half making a tackle, was taken off the field on a spinal board. After tests and staying overnight in the hospital, it was revealed that Mauldin had suffered a concussion but no neck injury. While a concussion is still serious, he had least had feeling in all his extremities and was left out of the hospital today.

Next: Who is the greatest Jets first-round pick in franchise-history?

More from Empire Writes Back

Home/New York Jets