(David Pokress/Sportsday Wire)
Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles experienced the ups and downs that come with being in charge of a team on Tuesday, as he promoted a deserving veteran and is dealing with an injury to a key player on the offense.
Bowles officially named Willie Colon the starting right guard, and announced they will be without Jace Amaro for the season due to a torn labrum that will require shoulder surgery.
Colon, 32, missed the first few days of training camp with knee soreness. He beat out Brian Winters and Brent Qvade for the starting job on Opening Day on September 13th against Cleveland.
Bowles said of what Colon did to earn that spot, “He was the more aggressive of the ones that were competing for the position. He wanted it more. He came out and played like it and he proved it.”
On if Colon impressed him with how much he has left in the tank, Bowles said, “He came back to camp in shape, he wanted it more. He played like he wanted it more. He was the hungriest. He showed, he didn’t bust as many assignments as the rest of them. He played tougher, he played more physical than the rest of them. So, he’s the starter.”
Bowles also announced that Winters is Colon’s backup and is “still playing for some more two nights from now.”
On how much he has to focus on maintenance with Colon at this stage of his career, Bowles said, “I think we have a couple vets we have to focus on. You have to keep him fresh for the season. Be smart enough to understand when they need the reps and smart enough to understand when they need to rest.”
There was less encouraging news on the offensive side of things, as tight end Jace Amaro has been declared out for the season with a torn labrum and will have surgery on his shoulder.
Bowles said of Amaro being on IR, “Yes, when he got hurt it was more of the shoulder. It was either a two-week period, two and a half, three week period to get better. If it didn’t get any better and it was still as worse as it was, then we’d have to go ahead and do surgery and we’d have to shelve him. So we gave him time to get better and he didn’t get better. So, end result is we have to do surgery and put him on IR.”
On if Amaro was surprised to be put on IR, Bowles said, “(He) wasn’t surprised, I mean he was bummed out about it. But, if you’re in pain and you’re not getting any better, you have to fix it sooner than later.”
On if Amaro’s injury is a labrum tear, Bowles said, “That’s what they said it was. But, he can’t do anything. We had to put him on IR. He’s still in a lot of pain.”
On if Amaro had surgery yet, Bowles said simply, “Not yet.”
The Jets will now have to rely on Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Davis to step up with Amaro out.
On state of the tight end position, Bowles said, “Somebody has to step up. We have a couple guys playing this week that we want to see more of. We’ll look at it from there. With Jace, it’s just a chance for somebody else to play.”
On if he envisions Quincy Enunwa filling some of the duties he expected Amaro to have, Bowles said, “Not at the moment. He’s a big wideout right now. He’s just able to block better than the rest of them. His size and his physicality presents that. So, going forward you’d like to see how he plays in this game as a wide receiver.”