After a lengthy, well-documented holdout over a contract dispute, edge rusher Haason Reddick made his Jets debut in Sunday’s 25-22 loss to the New England Patriots.
Playing in a situational pass-rushing role, Reddick played 26 snaps, and while he didn’t have any official stats in the box score, he did have a pair of QB pressures, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
“A little rusty,” Reddick said of his debut. “It was good to be back out there on the field. I wish it ended better, I wish I was talking to you under better circumstances as far as a W, but it was good to be out there flying around. I just didn’t like the end result.”
“Physically, I felt good,” he later added. “I felt really conditioned. That was one of the things that I did work on when I was going through that process, was making sure that when I did come back that my wind was up, that I wasn’t holding the team back.”
Reddick was asked multiple times about his prolonged holdout following his trade from the Philadelphia Eagles in early April.
But the 30-year-old, who said his teammates welcomed him “with open arms,” declined to get into any specifics on why he held out, saying he was only focused on helping the Jets win football games moving forward.
“As of right now, I have nothing to say as far as the holdout,” Reddick said. “The only thing that I’m worried about right now is what can I do to be better, what can I do to get myself fully up to speed. We’ve got a Thursday night game and that’s the only thing I’m focused on: How can I get better? How can I help the team win, and what do I need to do to make sure we get these Ws?”
Asked if he felt at all responsible for the Jets’ 2-6 stumble out of the starting blocks, Reddick replied “I don’t feel responsible. I do wish some things were different, things happened differently.”
