The New York Jets fell to the Detroit Lions 31-24 on Sunday, but the loss came with a silver lining: rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq showed exactly why the team used a first-round pick on him.
With second receiver Adonai Mitchell out with an injured finger, Sadiq stepped into a bigger role and delivered, catching seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. The 21-year-old became the second-youngest player in franchise history to post a 100-yard receiving game, the second Jets rookie tight end this century to hit that mark in a single outing, and the first rookie tight end in team history to score both a receiving and a rushing touchdown in the same season.
Sadiq’s path to Sunday’s performance was anything but smooth. He missed offseason training activities recovering from hernia surgery and sat out most of training camp, including every preseason game, after a setback in late July. Despite the lost reps, he entered the league with the fastest 40-yard dash time recorded by a tight end at the NFL combine in at least 23 years, at 4.39 seconds.
Head coach Aaron Glenn made clear after the game that the team plans to keep expanding Sadiq’s workload.
“Now is the time to throw a lot at him,” Glenn said. “He is getting every rep possible to be able to do that. He can play multiple positions, as you saw [Sunday]. He is a guy who is athletically on a different level than a lot of tight ends in this league, and he is extremely intelligent when it comes to understanding football. We want him to continue to grow in that aspect and try to get him the ball because we see what he could do.”
For the second time in three games, Sadiq scored the Jets’ first touchdown of the day, diving to haul in a 24-yard pass from quarterback Geno Smith for an early lead. In the fourth quarter, he broke off a 43-yard reception that set up another Jets score during their late comeback attempt.
Sadiq had managed just five catches for 38 yards combined in his first two games. Sunday he played a season-high 38 snaps, filling in while fellow tight end Mason Taylor sat out with a thumb injury.
“I think it’s about each week finding ways to progress, going back, watching the tape, seeing areas I need to improve on,” Sadiq said. “Obviously it’s not ideal to not get those reps in training camp, so it was about making the most of my mental reps during that time period. When it did get to my time to go, I felt like I could hop in and make an impact. All the guys on the team have helped me out a lot and the coaches have put me in a great position.”
New offensive coordinator Frank Reich has leaned on a deep tight end group, deploying multiple tight ends on 22 of the Jets’ 61 offensive plays Sunday. Those formations averaged 8.5 yards per play, including a 20-yard completion to Jelani Woods and a touchdown catch by Jeremy Ruckert.
It was the first time in nearly 12 years that three Jets tight ends each gained at least 20 receiving yards in a game, and the first time since 2019 that multiple Jets tight ends caught touchdowns in the same contest.
Teammate Jelani Woods said Sadiq’s emergence was only a matter of time.
“We always knew he could do that,” Woods said. “It was just a matter of when.”
