Among the problems for the Jets offense in their 13-6 loss to the Dolphins were the shotgun snaps delivered by center Spencer Long.
Long made several high snaps, including one that went over quarterback Sam Darnold’s head and another that Darnold corralled just in time to throw an interception that Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker returned for the game’s only touchdown.
It’s not the first time that Long has had issues with snaps as he’s been dealing with a finger injury for several weeks, but the Jets waited until the final series of the game to turn to Jonotthan Harrison. On Monday, head coach Todd Bowles explained why he didn’t make a switch earlier and said that the team has considered giving Long this week off in order to get him totally right.
“He was healthy,” Bowles said at Monday’s press conference. “He had a great week of practice and he’s our starting center. So, if he was healthy enough to play, he played. When we saw the finger start giving him more issues than normal, we replaced him with Jonotthan. His finger got banged up again. ... I’ll see where it goes. It’s been thought about, but I haven’t expressed it to the coaches yet. We will deal with that this week.”
The Jets have a bye after facing the Bills, so Long would get an extended chance to heal up if he does sit out this week.