Jets’ Josh Reynolds says he’s ‘blessed’ to be playing after rough year that included being shot

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Josh Reynolds has had plenty of time to reflect on how tumultuous his life was last year — on and off the field.

The failed stint with Denver. A hand injury that landed him on injured reserve. The bullet wounds on his head and arm from an early morning shooting. His comeback from his injuries. His brief stay in Jacksonville.

The New York Jets wide receiver would rather keep that all in the past now and focus on his new opportunity.

“I’m blessed, you know?” Reynolds said Tuesday after practice during organized team activities. “I’m blessed to be here, blessed to still be playing. So, I’m going to take it one day at a time and continue to get better.”

At 30, Reynolds is one of the Jets’ oldest players after New York’s new regime under general manager Darren Mougey and coach Aaron Glenn focused on revamping the roster and infusing youth. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who turns 36 in August, is the team’s oldest player, followed by long snapper Thomas Hennessy, who turns 31 next Wednesday, and then Reynolds.

Garrett Wilson is the Jets’ No. 1 wide receiver, but the team is looking for a complementary No. 2 — and Reynolds is in that mix, along with Allen Lazard, Tyler Johnson, Xavier Gipson, Malachi Corley and rookie Arian Smith, among others.

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“I’m here for whatever they need me for,” Reynolds said. “If it’s (No.) 2, if it’s (No.) 3, I mean, I’m here to help the team win.”

The fact he’s even here now, though, is in many ways a victory in itself.

Reynolds, a fourth-round pick by the Rams out of Texas A&M in 2017, signed last offseason with Denver — where Mougey was the assistant GM — and caught 12 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown in five games before being placed on injured reserve with a broken finger.

On Oct. 18, while still healing from that injury, Reynolds was shot in the left arm and the back of the head — injuries later classified as minor — after he left a strip club in Glendale, Colorado, at about 2:45 a.m. Reynolds said he and two other men were followed into and then out of the club before shots were fired into their SUV.

Reynolds worked his way back onto the football field, but was waived by Denver in December before playing another game. He was claimed by Jacksonville and caught one pass in four games before being released in March.

“Yeah, life is precious, for sure,” said Reynolds, who has spoken very little about the shooting or the ups and downs of last season. “But the more you’ve got to think about it, the more you’re just kind of reliving it. And so I’ve moved past it, I’m here in Jersey and ready to get going.”

The Jets signed Reynolds three weeks after he was cut by the Jaguars, giving him a one-year deal worth up to $5 million. Aside from Mougey’s familiarity with Reynolds, Glenn also knew the wide receiver from his two-plus seasons in Detroit from 2021-23 when Glenn was the Lions’ defensive coordinator.

“I care about good players, so, if he is a good player, I want him in the locker room,” Glenn said. “If I knew him or not, that doesn’t matter to me. The fact of the matter is he is a good player and I think he has a lot left in the tank. I want him in the locker room. Plus, he’s a good person.”

Reynolds also knows Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, who was the Lions’ passing game coordinator during his last two seasons in Detroit. That gives Reynolds a bit of an edge in quickly picking up New York’s system, which he said is “pretty similar” to what he saw with the Lions, but with some “twists and stuff” that Engstrand has installed.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be a little harder, but, no, once I kind of heard and seen these plays, I was like, oh yeah, the memories started flooding back in,” Reynolds said. “A lot of it is just more being able to kind of do it as soon as you hear it.”

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