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Minkah Fitzpatrick Out vs Packers Week 2
By Smacktok
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New York Jets safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is out for Sunday's home game against the Green Bay Packers after missing every practice this week with a groin injury. The final injury report stamped Fitzpatrick as a three-day DNP and an official out. That matches the midweek room talk that he could miss two to three weeks, so Week 2 was never a real hope.
New York's inactive board is crowded. Wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (ankle), running back Kene Nwangwu (back), and edge Joseph Ossai (foot) are also out. Edge Will McDonald IV is questionable with an ankle but is expected to play. Second-round corner D'Angelo Ponds is lined up for his NFL debut in a secondary that already lost its highest-paid safety for a stretch.
Cisco gets the snaps
Andre Cisco is the expected starter in Fitzpatrick's place. That is the depth-chart truth, not a fantasy invention. MetLife noise and a Packers offense that can stretch the field make the safety communication matter on early downs. Fitzpatrick's absence is a Jets defense downgrade for IDP desks, not a reason to stream a random name off the practice squad.
Green Bay brings its own trench questions. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is doubtful with a knee and concussion designation. Warren Brinson is out (calf). Lukas Van Ness (concussion), Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring), Aaron Banks (knee), and Zach Bako-Bewele (knee) are all questionable. The Packers still get a Jets secondary without its top safety.
Fitzpatrick arrived in New York as a centerpiece free-agent safety and played only six snaps in Week 1 before the groin flared. That short sample is why the Jets are not rushing him back for a Week 2 home date. Cisco gets the snaps. The rest of the secondary has to cover for the communication load Fitzpatrick usually carries.
For season-long and DFS, stamp Fitzpatrick out and keep McDonald on the watch list until the inactive sheet posts. Do not invent a two-week lock if the Jets have not put a calendar on it. Treat Cisco as the snap winner and move on.
1 p.m. at MetLife
Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Fitzpatrick's groin already locked the safety plan. McDonald's ankle is the last Jets watch item before the inactive list.
Groin. Three DNPs. Packers at 1. That is New York's Week 2 board.