FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley is dealing with a herniated disk in his neck that will sideline him for a fourth straight game.
Mosley said Friday surgery won’t be necessary to repair the injury and he remains “day to day,” but was able to do some work on the practice field this week as the team prepared to face Indianapolis on Sunday. Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said the hope is Mosley could return after the team’s bye-week break next week.
“Yeah, if I’m 100%,” Mosley said. “Other than that, I probably won’t be back until then.”
Mosley said the “crazy injury” happened after he gave the pregame speech to his teammates a few hours before the Jets’ showdown at New England on Oct. 27.
“I was getting ready to go to our positional drills to start that warmup and I just felt like a burn down the back of my neck,” Mosley recalled. “Everything else just locked up after.”
The 32-year-old Mosley said doctors told him to rest for the first week after the injury, and he has since been doing physical therapy. He received an epidural shot last week and a facet block injection this week.
It has been a rough season for Mosley, a team captain and Pro Bowl selection last year who missed three other games this year with a toe injury.
“Just disappointing, mainly from my perspective,” he said. “I want to be on the field. Whether we’re winning or losing. I want to be on the field helping and producing and doing what I can. This sport is all about production and there’s only so much you can do from the sideline. After a while, you just feel like a coach talking.”
Jamien Sherwood has been filling in for Mosley as the defensive play caller and has done a solid job. He had a career-best 17 tackles last week at Arizona.
Mosley said it’s “definitely the goal” to return to playing - whether that’s this season or next.
“I know I’m in a position where I’ve played a lot of football, so me missing this time won’t hurt me as much as another guy that might need this opportunity,” he said. “It’s about safety. At the end of the day when I go home, I’m Clinton Mosley, I’m C.J., I’m not the football player.
“Since this injury - I just had my daughter recently - so I had a full week of just having a normal neck and ever since then, any time I’m looking down, my neck’s hurting. So, that put things in perspective. There’s a lot of life after football. So when I’m done playing, I want to make sure I’m 100%.”
Left tackle Tyron Smith was ruled out with a neck ailment, so rookie first-rounder Olu Fashanu will start in Smith’s place.
Fashanu filled in at left tackle after Smith left against the Cardinals, and he also started two games at right tackle when Morgan Moses was sidelined. He has also played right guard, but left tackle is his natural position - he only played there at Penn State - and where the Jets envisioned him playing when they drafted him.
“I try to not make anything bigger than it actually is, but I’m not going to be ignorant,” Fashanu said. “Obviously, that’s the position I played in college and high school, so it’s definitely nice to go out and get the start and be with all the guys.”
Ulbrich said Smith’s injury is still being evaluated and he wouldn’t rule out a stint on injured reserve. Smith is in his first season with the Jets after 13 with Dallas.
Anders Carlson will be the Jets’ fourth kicker in as many games after Spencer Shrader was signed Thursday off the practice by Kansas City.
Carlson, who’s also on the practice squad, was with San Francisco earlier this season. He was 5 of 5 on field goal attempts and 3 of 4 on extra points in two games in place of the injured Jake Moody and Matthew Wright.
Carlson said Thursday was “a whirlwind” after Shrader came into the locker room and told him he was headed to the Chiefs.
“It was kind of a crazy day because any of us could’ve been gone,” Carlson said. “He was happy to go and it’s a great opportunity for him. I’m happy to be here, too. … Just taking every opportunity I can.”
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