Chris Herndon has not produced the way he was expected to in 2020, but he doesn’t think that has to do with how he’s being used within the Jets offense.
Herndon thinks he’s been used “fairly” on offense this season, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. The third-year tight end only has 13 catches for 98 yards on the year. He’s also had some costly drops and fumbles, but Herndon knows he can’t control how involved he is on the offense.
“It’s a team game,” Herndon said. “I can’t sit after every game and be upset and mad and try to point fingers. This time last year I wasn’t even on the field, so at this point, I’m honestly just thankful to be out there.”
Obviously, Herndon would prefer to be having a better season than he is now. He showed a ton of potential in his rookie season with 39 catches for 502 yards and four touchdowns. Then a suspension, a hamstring injury and a rib injury threw his sophomore season off course. He played in just one game.
There was a lot of hype about Herndon in training camp this summer. Adam Gase said he was going to play a big role in the offense. But the Jets have failed to get him the ball and when he does get it, he doesn’t hang onto it.
Fortunately for the tight end, there are nine games left to be played, so Herndon still has a shot to make something of this season. If he can play well over this final stretch and carry that into next season, he’ll have a worthwhile end to the season to build on in 2021.