Jets Place Allen Lazard and Levi Fotu on IR, sign Riley Patterson and Alec Lindstrom

The Jets have placed WR Allen Lazard and DT Leki Fotu on injured reserve and added K Riley Patterson and OL Alec Lindstrom to the active roster. The team also activated TE Kenny Yeboah from injured reserve and released TE Anthony Firkser.

The Green & White have elevated S Jarius Monroe and CB Kendall Sheffield from the practice squad to the active roster for Thursday’s game against the Texans. Finally, the Jets added DL Takk McKinley to the practice squad.

Lazard suffered a pectoral injury that forced him to miss last week’s game against New England. He leads the Jets with 5 receiving touchdowns and ranks second among the team’s receivers in receptions (30) and yards (412). Lazard, who originally signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2018, played his first five NFL seasons with the Packers before signing with the Green & White last year. He played 78 games (59 starts) in seven seasons and totaled 222 catches, 2,959 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Fotu (6-5, 335), who has three tackles in two games, started the season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and was activated on Oct. 14. He signed with the Jets after spending the past four seasons with the Cardinals. In 2023, he totaled 2.5 sacks, 28 tackles and 5 tackles for loss in 11 games. Drafted by Arizona out of Utah in the 2020 fourth round, Fotu played in 45 games (12 starts) and recorded 1 sack, 3 pass defenses, 61 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 5 QB hits before joining the Green & White .

Patterson (6-0, 190), signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of Memphis, joined the Jets’ practice squad on Oct. 30. He spent the 2024 training camp with the Commanders and was released in August. In the preseason, he connected on 2 of 3 field goal attempts and 1 extra point. In five seasons in the NFL, Patterson, who has played for five teams, has made 88% of his field goal attempts (59 of 67) and 96% of extra points (93 of -97). Among over-40s, he is 19 from -25, and 40 from 42 within 40.

Lindstrom (6-3, 300) first signed to the Green & White practice squad on October 9 and was released on October 17 before rejoining PS on October 23. He initially signed with the Cowboys in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Boston College and spent his rookie season on Dallas’ practice squad until being placed on the P-squad/injured list in November. Lindstrom signed with the Memphis Showboats of the UFL in January 2024 and had a stint in training camp with the Rams. He is the younger brother of Falcons two-time Pro Bowl OL Chris Lindstrom.

Yeboah (6-4, 240) started the season on injured reserve. He first came to the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2021 after playing four seasons at Temple and his senior season in 2020 at Mississippi. He played in 24 games (1 start) over three seasons and had 4 total catches, 3 of which were on first downs, for 64 yards. He has mainly contributed on special teams as he has taken 441 team snaps.

Firkser (6-2, 246) joined the Jets for training camp and started the season on the practice squad before being added to the active roster on October 19. He appeared in 9 snaps on offense and 61 on special teams. He first signed with the Green & White as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard in 2017, but his first professional gaming action came with the Titans in 2018, where he played the entire ’21 season. Over his five-year career, Firkser has played in 71 games (4 starts) and totaled 115 receptions for 1,207 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Monroe (6-2, 205), signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent from Tulane, spent the summer with the Green & White before being cut and signed to the practice squad. He was elevated for last Sunday’s game against the Patriots and played 18 snaps (8 on defense, 10 on special teams). After the ’24 draft, Monroe moved from CB to S with the Jets and got the start at his new position in the final two games of the preseason, logging 123 defensive snaps in the three games combined and finishing the preseason with 16 tackles.

Sheffield (5-10, 212), a fourth-round pick of the Falcons (No. 111 overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft, spent training camp with the Jets before being cut and signed to the practice squad. He was elevated two weeks ago and made 17 snaps (10 on defense, 7 on special teams). He played in 38 games (20 starts) for the Falcons from 2019-21, recording 101 tackles, 6 PDs and 2 FF. Sheffield had brief stints on the practice squads for the 49ers and Titans last season. The former Ohio State Buckeye overlapped with Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich with the Falcons in Sheffield’s first two pro seasons.

McKinley (6-2, 260), 28, a former first-round pick (No. 26) of the Falcons in the 2017 NFL Draft out of UCLA, joined the Jets for mandatory minicamp as a tryout player and earned a spot on the team’s roster for training camp before making the 53-man roster. He played in seven games for the Green & White this season and had nine tackles and half a sack in seven games, making 130 attacks on defense.