One of the lingering camp battles for the Jets has been resolved, by default.
Jets fullback Lex Hilliard, who appeared in 12 games and started nine last season, has been lost for the season. He’ll have surgery to repair a broken scapula suffered on Tuesday in practice.
Hilliard’s exit opens the door for Tommy Bohanon, a seventh-round rookie from Wake Forest who had been battling Hilliard for the job.
After three seasons with the Dolphins, appearing in every game, Hilliard signed with the Vikings, who cut him prior to the start of the regular season. After two games with the Patriots, Hilliard was available again. The man who coached him in Miami, Tony Sparano, brought him to New York.
Hilliard will land on injured reserve, collecting the full amount of his $715,000 base salary. And that may be the best news for Hilliard; if he’d lost the job to Bohanon and been cut, Hilliard may have earned roughly $715,000 less than that this season.