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The New York Jets are set to enter their second week of defensive end Haason Reddick’s holdout. And while no news isn’t necessarily good news for the Jets and head coach Robert Saleh, it may not be all doom and gloom in terms of Reddick eventually getting caught up with his new team.
Acquired in an offseason trade by the Jets with the Philadelphia Eagles, Reddick is holding out in search of either a new long-term deal.
Reddick is one of the most productive edge rushers in the NFL with four straight seasons of double-digit sacks. He is slated for a base salary of $14.25 million this upcoming season.
Asked on Monday about the status of Reddick, Saleh simply said “I still have nothing.” But he wasn’t sure that the holdout’s nature is going to hurt Reddick’s ability to integrate into the defense if and when he arrives in New Jersey.
“I don’t know because there’s examples of players who, like Aaron Donald, Chris Jones a couple years ago, who didn’t show up to Week 1 and they did just fine,” Saleh told reporters.
“When you get to that stage in your career, I don’t have the right answer for you on that one.”
As for a silver lining, Saleh said that Will McDonald, a second-year edge who was a first-round pick last April, has earned extra reps with Reddick not present.
“I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought at the time. The reality is he’s not here, but there are like I said, there are a bunch of guys who are, who are working their tails off,” Saleh said.
“Will McDonald, like I said, is getting a lot of reps that he otherwise wouldn’t have got and for it, he’s been improving every day.”