FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets right tackle Morgan Moses will be sidelined “a couple games” with a knee injury, coach Robert Saleh announced Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Moses hurt his left knee on the final play of the third quarter last Thursday night in the Jets' 24-3 win over the New England Patriots. First-round draft pick Olu Fashanu will fill in for Moses and make his first NFL start Sunday against Denver.
It's a significant loss for New York's offensive line, which played well in the first two games, but Moses is expected to return in a few weeks after tests determined it wasn't as severe as some initially feared.
“He’s going to be a couple games,” Saleh said, “but obviously not enough to put him on IR.”
Saleh wouldn't specify the nature of Moses' injury, saying: “He's just dealing with a knee.” Moses was seen in the Jets' locker room before practice with a bulky brace on his left knee. He did not practice.
Moses would have been forced to sit out at least four games if the Jets placed him on injured reserve. The veteran was acquired by New York from Baltimore in March in a trade that included draft picks, with the Jets also getting a fourth-rounder in exchange for a fourth- and sixth-rounder.
It's Moses' second stint with the Jets after also playing for New York in 2021.
Fashanu, the 11th overall pick, came in for Moses against New England and played the fourth quarter. He was drafted as a left tackle out of Penn State, but the Jets signed Tyron Smith in the offseason. Fashanu was expected to sit as a rookie behind Smith, but he got some work at right tackle during training camp.
“We've got a lot of faith in Olu to go out and execute,” Saleh said.
Fashanu played only left tackle in college, so learning how to play on the right side took some getting used to.
“I'm pretty comfortable,” Fashanu said. “It's been something I've been working on ever since the draft training in February, and worked on it during OTAs and training camp. I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot right now.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been impressed with Fashanu's maturity as a rookie and overall abilities.
“I don’t like to do a lot of comparisons, but I will in this case. From the beginning, I felt like he reminded me a lot of D'Brickashaw (Ferguson), personality-wise and just the consistency,” Rodgers said, referring to the former Jets left tackle who played all but one snap in his 10 seasons in New York.
“Obviously, I didn't play with Brick, but I know people that did and I watched him from afar," he added. "And I always felt like he was just so consistent week in and week out. ...
“It’s just never been too big for Olu. I feel like he’s been consistent every day.”
Linebacker C.J. Mosley sat out practice Wednesday and Saleh said the veteran could be a game-time decision again Sunday.
Mosley injured a toe in the Jets' win at Tennessee on Sept. 15 and sat out against New England.
“We'll see how things go, but we were planning on giving him so vet days, anyway,” Saleh said. “We're going to, I don't want to say overly cautious, but we'll just make sure that this toe doesn't become a problem.”
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New York Jets offensive tackle Morgan Moses (78) is tended to by trainers after an injury during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — In 2005, Hurricane Dennis landed near the Alabama-Florida state line as a Category 3 hurricane. Far to the east, Florida's Big Bend — where Hurricane Helene is expected to come ashore — never even felt tropical storm strength winds, but it was still hit with a mass of water that devasted coastal communities.
That's storm surge. It's more deadly and destructive than wind and can make a significant impact far from the center of a storm.
The most common way to measure a hurricane's strength is the Saffir-Simpson Scale that assigns a category from 1 to 5 based on a storm's sustained wind speed at its center, with 5 being the strongest. But that only tells part of the story.
While wind can tear off roofs, knock down trees and snap power lines, storm surge can push buildings completely off their foundations, can trap and even drown people in their homes, wash out roads and bridges, toss boats inland and hammer anything in its path.
“The leading cause of death from hurricanes is water, not wind,” said Craig Fugate, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who previously ran Florida's emergency management.
And in the case of Hurricane Helene, predicted storm surge could be devastating in the coastal areas of the state's Big Bend, where the peninsula meets the Panhandle. Forecasters say surge could be between 15 and 20 feet (4.5 to 6 meters).
Storm surge is the level at which sea water rises above its normal level.
Much like the way a storm's sustained winds do not include the potential for even stronger gusts, storm surge doesn't include the wave height above the mean water level.
Surge is also the amount above what the normal tide is at a time, so a 15-foot storm surge at high tide can be far more devastating than the same surge at low tide.
Hurricane Katrina is largely remembered for causing flooding in New Orleans. That wasn't from storm surge, but rather the failure of levees protecting the city.
But further east, Mississippi was devastated by up to 28 feet (8.5 meters) of surge. Afterward, parts of the Mississippi coast looked as if someone took heavy equipment and cleared out everything within 300 yards (274 meters) of the shore, Fugate said.
“It took the gambling casino boats and put them on the other side of the road. The Waffle Houses were nothing but slabs,” Fugate said. "That kind of devastation is what they're going to see in the Big Bend.'
Florida's Big Bend is sparsely populated compared to other parts of Florida's coast.
“Fortunately, the populations are much smaller, but it doesn't mean the devastation to those areas won't be extreme. I'm thinking about little towns like Panacea. I'm not sure what's going to be left after this,” Fugate said.
The Gulf Coast overall is much shallower than the Atlantic Coast, and even more so in the Big Bend. If you place a fan in front of a shallow baking tray filled with water, it's going to scatter it much more easily on the kitchen counter than if you put a deep mixing bowl full of water in front of the same fan.
And because of the geography of the Big Bend, the water can't spread out along the coast as it would in other areas.
“That is very shallow water. Because of the bend, there's nowhere for the water really to go. It just piles up and moves inland,” Fugate said. “If people haven't gotten out, it's going to be bad.”
He noted many of the coastal communities in the area have one road in and out, and once those roads are flooded, people who don't evacuate will be stuck until the storm passes and flooding recedes.
“Most of the roads down there are going to be underwater, even if (first responders) could, they're not going to get down there,” Fugate said. “During the storm, there won't be anybody able to get out there and rescue people.”
FILE - Cars and debris from washed away homes line a canal in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Oct. 5, 2022, one week after the passage of Hurricane Ian. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
