The Jets’ Week 4 preparation has become a study in contrasts.
On one side, Braelon Allen is taking the majority of practice reps with Breece Hall sidelined by a quadricep injury. On the other, Minkah Fitzpatrick is moving closer to a return after being limited earlier in the week and then upgraded to full participation on Thursday. And then there is Kingsley Enagbare, whose late-week downgrade to a DNP added another wrinkle to a roster already dealing with multiple injury questions.
Allen said he has been ready for this kind of assignment.
“I’ve always prepared like I’m the lead guy,” Allen said.
That mindset matters now because the Jets are asking him to absorb a larger workload at a time when Hall is unavailable. Allen has been taking the majority of reps in practice ahead of Sunday’s game at Chicago, and the team’s backfield plan now runs through him while Hall remains out.
Allen also made clear he is thinking about Hall beyond the football implications.
“Just hope he’s OK,” Allen said.
Hall’s absence was confirmed by a second straight Did Not Participate on Thursday, and left guard Dylan Parham also logged a second consecutive DNP. Those two absences alone leave the Jets with a thinner offensive front heading into Week 4, even before the rest of the injury report is considered.
The defensive side of the ledger looks different.
Fitzpatrick, who has been sidelined since a groin injury in Week 1, returned to practice earlier this week and was a limited participant to start it. By Thursday, he had been upgraded to full participation, a strong sign that he is expected to be ready to face the Bears on Sunday. If he does play, it would be his first appearance since Week 1.
That matters because the Jets have been waiting for a stabilizing presence in the secondary. Fitzpatrick’s return would give them a proven piece back in the lineup at a time when the defense has not yet produced an interception under Aaron Glenn.
But the week has not settled cleanly in the Jets’ favor.
Enagbare’s status shifted from limited on Wednesday to out on Thursday because of a knee injury, and that late change keeps the overall availability picture unsettled. The Jets now have one backfield answer taking shape, one defensive reinforcement trending toward a return, and one more injury development that complicates the rest of the game plan.
That is the balance the Jets are carrying into Week 4: Allen preparing to shoulder Hall’s workload, Fitzpatrick nearing a return, and Enagbare’s absence leaving the final roster picture less certain than it looked a day earlier.