Dowell Loggains is not ready to give up on Chris Herndon just yet.
Through the Jets’ first nine games, Herndon has caught only 14 passes for 101 yards to go along with two dropped passes and two fumbles. Despite playing 65 percent of the Jets’ offensive snaps against the Patriots in Week 9, Joe Flacco did not target Herndon once in New York’s 30-27 loss.
Once a prominent target in Gang Green’s passing attack, Herndon has not been targeted in three of the Jets’ last four games and fumbled his only catch over that span against the Chiefs in Week 8. Herndon’s regression since his standout 2018 rookie season has been staggering, but according to Loggains, the Miami product is doing exactly what New York is asking of him right now.
“Chris is doing the job we’re asking him to do and he’s doing it really well,” Loggains said Thursday, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “There are a lot of things he can do in pass protection that a lot of tight ends can’t do… We think he’s a good pass receiver. We just haven’t asked him to be in that role right now.”
Thi was supposed to be Herndon’s year. He was pegged as a star throughout training camp and was primed to shake off the rust from a 2019 season lost because of suspension and injury. Instead, it has been nothing short of a disaster due in large part to questionable usage and unreliable hands.
The Jets have seldom gotten any of their tight ends involved in the passing game in 2020. Ryan Griffin, who signed a two-year contract extension with New York last year, has caught only seven passes for 55 yards. Trevon Wesco has been targeted only twice. Wesco’s usage is understandable considering he is primarily a blocking tight end, but Herndon and Griffin have, for some reason, been phased out of the passing attack in order to give Sam Darnold added protection.
Regardless of his usage, though, Herndon’s play in 2020 has been the definition of underwhelming. He still has plenty of time to get his season back on track, but consider Loggains’ praise nothing more than an obligatory pat on the back of a player in desperate need of a morale booster.