Sauce Gardner avoided the worst with his non-contact leg injury.
In his third game since being traded by Jets, Gardner suffered what he believed to be a left calf strain in his Indianapolis Colts’ 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Gardner was set to undergo further testing but expressed confidence that he did not injure his Achilles.
“I felt like I got shot in the calf or something,” Gardner said afterward. “But it was, like, high [in my calf]. I wasn’t thinking the worst.”
Gardner came up hobbled while covering Texans tight end Cade Stover during the first quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The star cornerback, 25, did not put much weight on his left leg as he was helped into the blue medical tent and then to the locker room.
Gardner did not return to the game, but he went back to the sideline later in the first half wearing a protective boot.
He is expected to miss some time, according to NFL Network.
The Colts (8-4) acquired Gardner from the Jets in early November, identifying the two-time All-Pro as a missing piece amid their surprise hot start to the season.
In return, the Jets received a haul that included two-first round picks and speedy second-year wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
Mitchell, 23, delivered a breakout performance on Sunday, setting career highs with eight catches and 102 receiving yards while scoring his first NFL touchdown in the Jets’ 27-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons at MetLife Stadium.
DRAFT DROP
Those extra draft picks could prove paramount for the quarterback-needy Jets, as their win Sunday dropped them three spots in the 2026 draft order.
The Jets (3-9) went from No. 4 to No. 7 with the victory, according to Tankathon.
Moving ahead of the Jets were the Las Vegas Raiders (2-10), Cleveland Browns (3-9) and Washington Commanders (3-9), all of whom lost Sunday.
Entering Monday, the top three spots belonged to the Tennessee Titans (1-11), New Orleans Saints (2-10) and Giants, who were 2-10 going into “Monday Night Football” against the New England Patriots.
The tiebreaker for draft positioning is strength of schedule, with the team that played the weaker schedule receiving the higher pick.
After an 0-7 start, the Jets have won three of their last five games. Barring a significant shakeup in the season’s final five weeks, the Jets will likely need to consider trading up for a chance at the top quarterback in April’s draft.
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Alabama’s Ty Simpson are among the draft-eligible quarterbacks in a class that does not have a clear-cut blue-chip prospect at the position.
The Jets own five first-round picks over the next two drafts, as they also added a first-rounder in last month’s trade that sent defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys.
That should be ample ammunition to move up, so long as they can find a trade partner. The Saints, Raiders and Browns all figure to be in the market for a franchise quarterback, too.
The Jets signed quarterback Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract in the offseason, but they benched him two weeks ago for veteran Tyrod Taylor.
Last week, first-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn stressed that tanking was not an option.
“I’m going to give you a line that you guys have heard before: You play the game to win. It’s just not in a coach or players mentality to go out there and lose games. We’re not built that way,” Glenn said.
“We’re built to go out there and play as hard as we can to try and get as many wins as we can. And then we let everything else take care of itself as far as draft and all that.”
