When Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall went down awkwardly in the second quarter Thursday night and clutched at his left knee, Marshall apparently thought he’d soon be reaching for a fishing pole.
“I thought it was over,” Marshall told reporters. “I thought I’d be fishing in my backyard in Florida.”
After catching a slant pass and running inside the Bills’ 10-yard line, Marshall was tackled by the facemask by Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Trainers immediately ran to assist Marshall, who was clearly in pain but ended up limping to the sideline on his own. He soon was taken to the locker room for further evaluation.
Though he was able to return to the game by the time the Jets got the ball back, Marshall wasn’t the only one who was thinking he’d been seriously injured.
“I thought he was down for the count,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said.
Clearly he wasn’t. Marshall ended up with six catches for 101 yards as the Jets overwhelmed the Bills’ defense.
Bowles said after the game he was told Marshall’s knee is “sore or slightly sprained” and that Marshall will be evaluated over the next several days. Marshall said Gilmore apologized after the game for unintentionally grabbing his facemask.