Two practice-squad promotions in the same day usually means the 53-man roster had a bad weekend. This one did. The Jets signed DT Jack Heflin and WR Malik McClain to the active roster on Sept. 23, placed LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball, DT David Onyemata and WR Arian Smith on injured reserve, and added TE Cody Hardy and DT Isaiahh Loudermilk to the practice squad.
Heflin is the direct answer to Onyemata. Same position group, same job, interior snaps that now have to be covered for at least four games. That the Jets went inside their own building in late September instead of the free-agent market tells you how they graded the outside options, and how ready they consider Heflin after he spent the start of the season in the system.
McClain covers the Smith opening at receiver, and it's the promotion with the clearer path to snaps. A practice-squad call-up gets the first look at the back of a receiver rotation before a team signs a stranger off the street.
The two practice-squad additions roughly restore what the promotions took. Loudermilk is a defensive tackle, Hardy a tight end, and both slots needed filling the moment Heflin and McClain left them.
Three position groups patched in one day's paperwork, all in-house.
Heflin is the one worth watching. Onyemata's absence is a run-defense question, and Heflin is the body assigned to answer it. If the interior rotation gets moved off the ball over the next month, the Jets will be shopping for defensive tackles well before the bye.
