Injuries have ravaged the landscape for the New York Jets, who now confront the remainder of their schedule minus Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes. That isn't all.
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Rich Cimini of ESPN New York tweeted that receiver Stephen Hill didn't practice Friday and is unlikely to play Monday night against the Houston Texans, yet another nugget of bad news for an offense lost at sea.
Even with Hill in the lineup, this might be the NFL's weakest group of pass catchers, and it's astonishing the Jets went into the season with the cupboard so obviously bare.
With Holmes out of the picture, the team's leading receiver heading into the Texans game is tight end Jeff Cumberland (11 catches for 88 yards). Behind him, Jeremy Kerley, Chaz Schilens and Hill have combined for 21 catches and just four touchdowns. Dustin Keller has been a ghost battling hamstring issues.
The Revis injury sunk a knife into the heart of this team. Losing Holmes isn't as dire, but it's close, because he was New York's only play maker on offense. The chemistry between Holmes and quarterback Mark Sanchez has been hot/cold all along, but there's virtually no history between Sanchez and the cast of remaining wideouts. We saw the upshot in last Sunday's 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
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The predictable buzz is building for Tim Tebow to replace Sanchez, but neither of these quarterbacks stand a chance with what general manager Mike Tannenbaum has put on the field at the receiver position.
The situation in Florham Park is rapidly darkening, but some of these problems could have been avoided with a more active offseason pursuit to surround Sanchez with weapons. For some reason, the Jets felt they were fine. Now they drift right into the heart of the storm without a paddle.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
