The New York Jets seemed to have turned a corner when they knocked off the Green Bay Packers last Sunday.
The positive vibes surrounding the 4-2 locker room lasted just three additional days when disgruntled wide receiver Elijah Moore left practice Thursday and requested a trade shortly after.
Before Friday’s practice, Jets head coach Robert Saleh announced that Moore would not be playing in Sunday’s contest against the Denver Broncos.
Saleh later confirmed the team would not be trading Moore before the November 1st trade deadline and the recent decision came “not as a punishment” but as an unfair ask considering Moore’s mental state.
“It’s what we deal with every day. We will continue to work with him. He’s in the building but he’ll rejoin the team on Monday.” Saleh told reporters.
Moore was a second-round pick for the Jets last season from Ole Miss, and caught over 40 passes for 538 yards and scored five touchdowns. The 2022-23 season brought heightened expectations for both Moore and the Jets but New York has since updated its gameplan in recent weeks.
The return of Zach Wilson from his preseason knee injury brought about a philosophical change in New York. In the first three games of the season, Moore was targeted a total of 21 times while the Jets went 1-2 against the Ravens, Bengals, and Browns.
Since Wilson’s return, however, Moore’s targets have also dropped. A move to the outside has seen the Ole Miss product targeted just eight times in the last three games while the 27-10 win in Green Bay saw no targets thrown Moore’s way.
Moore has since deleted cryptic tweets surrounding his being given an excused absence from practice Thursday and has not made any public statements since the reports came out with his trade request.
The NFL’s trade deadline is on Tuesday, November 1st at 4 pm – ET. The Jets have been adamant that they won’t trade the disgruntled wide receiver but will now need to focus on Sunday’s matchup against the Denver Broncos and a potential 5-2 start to their season.
