C.J. Mosley will miss his fourth straight game Sunday when the Jets face the Colts.
The veteran linebacker revealed Friday that he has a herniated disk in his neck. He hopes to come back in two weeks after the Jets have their bye, but he is even unsure if he’ll be 100 percent by then.
Mosley, 32, said he definitely wants to return to the Jets.
“That’s definitely the goal,” Mosley said. “I’m in a position where I’ve played a lot of football. Me missing this time won’t hurt me as much as another guy that might need this opportunity. It’s about safety at the end of the day. When I go home, I’m Clint Mosley. I’m C.J. I’m not the football player.”
Mosley said the lesson of how important life is after football hit home with the birth of his daughter last month. He injured his neck a week after she was born.
“I had a full week of having a normal neck and ever since then every time I’m looking down, my neck’s hurting,” Mosley said. “It puts things in perspective. There’s a lot of life after football. When I’m done playing, I want to make sure I’m 100 percent.”
How the injury occurred was strange.
Mosley had just finished giving the pregame speech to his team on the field in New England on Oct. 27. He was on his way to warm up with the other linebackers when he felt it.
“I just felt like a burning in the back of my neck then everything else just locked up after,” Mosley said.
The doctors told Mosley he won’t need surgery. Rest and physical therapy should heal the problem. Mosley said he had an epidural last week and a facet block shot this week.
It has been a rough season for Mosley, who has also dealt with a toe injury. He has only played four games because of the injuries.
“Just disappointing from my perspective,” Mosley said of the season. “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. There’s only so much you can do from the sideline. After a while, you just feel like a coach talking.”
LT Tyron Smith (neck) is out and will be replaced by rookie Olu Fashanu. Smith could be headed to injured reserve, which would mean missing at least four games.
OL Jake Hanson (hamstring) also was ruled out.
WR Davante Adams (wrist, illness) and DT Solomon Thomas (knee) are listed as questionable.
S Chuck Clark (ankle) said he expects to be activated off of injured reserve after missing the last four games.
Anders Carlson will be elevated from the practice squad to be the Jets’ fourth kicker in the last four games, after Greg Zuerlein (injured reserve), Riley Patterson (released) and Spencer Shrader (signed Thursday by the Chiefs off the Jets practice squad).
“We’re confident that Anders can get it done,” head coach Jeff Ulbrich said after Carlson’s first practice as the starter. “It was a windy day, a day that was challenging in a lot of ways and he did a good job.”
Ulbrich called the kicker carousel “not ideal by any means.”
He declined to discuss the “roster management” that caused the Jets to lose Shrader by not signing him to their active roster earlier in the week.
Carlson, a 2023 Packers draft pick, kicked in two games for the 49ers earlier this season.
—Ryan Dunleavy contributed to this report
