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Perhaps not as shocking as Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck retiring, center Ryan Kalil returned from a brief retirement this offseason, deciding he was not done playing. The 34-year-old signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets at the beginning of August despite previously calling it quits after 12 seasons anchoring the Carolina Panthers' offensive line.
While Kalil gets acclimated with his new teammates and coaches, the veteran center has yet to appear in the preseason games for Gang Green. General manager Joe Douglas, hired by New York in June, spoke to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, promising Kalil's return to the gridiron will be in time for Week 1 against the Jets' AFC East Division rivals, the Buffalo Bills.
“We felt the best thing for him and the team would be to hold him out of the game,” Douglas said. “He’s only had three practices, so we felt the smart thing to do was to hold him out. We’ll re-evaluate it next week. We’re 15 days away from the opener so we feel he’s going to have plenty of time to be ready for Week 1.”
The Jets fell to 1-2 in preseason with their home loss to Drew Bress and the New Orleans Saints on Saturday evening. Kalil, again, did not appear in that third exhibition game, and it does not look like the former second-round selection will play a down for the Jets in their final tune-up tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.
It is a tough situation for the Jets and Joe Douglas, who have so much hope invested in the veteran Kalil. The five-time Pro Bowler portends to lift New York's front line and help second-year quarterback Sam Darnold. However, without in-game reps with Darnold and the first-team offense, the future for Kalil and his fit with the Jets is extremely uncertain.
