Introduction: Get Encouraging

New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich was
able to provide reporters with an update on one
of his injured players on Sunday night.

The New York Jets got some encouraging news
after a scary moment during Sunday’s
loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the third quarter, back-up offensive lineman Xavier
Newman was carted off the
field after a neck injury that
required paramedics to strap
him to a backboard and
take him to a local hospital that
had a tier one trauma center.

After Jets quarterback Aaron Rogers threw his second
interception of the game, Steelers cornerback Beanie Bishop
Jr. was returning it down the field.
Newman was trying to
help make a play but was blocked by
Steelers defender Patrick Queen.
The pair hit helmets and Newman
landed on the ground.
His head appeared to whip back and
hit the ground uncontrollably.

After Bishop was tackled at the 1-yard-line,
the game was stopped for several
minutes while trainers and
local paramedics tended to Newman.
Players from both teams
gathered around the area.

“The first thing they did was stabilize
his neck. He is conscious,”
said Melissa Stark, sideline reporter for NBC.

Later in the game, NBC reported that he did show
movement in his extremities and
that he was able to squeeze a paramedic’s hand.

After the game, Jets interim coach
Jeff Ulbrich had more encouraging news,
as he told reporters that Newman
would travel back with the team to
New York after the game and
that tests conducted on him,
including X-rays, were negative.

“There’s huge relief in that,” Ulbrich said.

Newman was in the game because starting right guard
Alijah Vera-Tucker left the game in the second quarter
after he suffered an ankle injury.
When Newman left the game,
Jake Hanson came in to play the rest of the game.

Newman is in his third season in the NFL after
playing his college football for Baylor University.
Before signing with the Jets this offseason,
he was a member of the
Tennessee Titans from 2022-23.

New York was decimated by
injuries on the other side
of the ball on Sunday, as they lost safety
Tony Adams in the first
half and backup safety
Ashtyn Davis in the second half.

Adams suffered a hamstring injury while
Davis was placed in concussion protocol.

The position group was already without three starters — 
safety Chuck Clark, cornerback
Michael Carter II and cornerback
D.J. Reed, the last of which was
ruled inactive just before the game.
Clark is on injured reserve and
cannot return for at least three more weeks.