The New York Jets finally picked up their third win of the season this week. Still, they’re missing one of their biggest offensive sparks, Garrett Wilson. The wideout’s been stuck on the sidelines with that knee injury, logging only eight games so far. And sure, the reports out there are already hinting that he might be done for the year, given how serious it looks. But Aaron Glenn isn’t buying that narrative at all.

“A lot of that has to do with the docs,” Glenn said. “Him being on this short-term IR, obviously, he’d get to come back after four games, so hopefully he’ll be back with us.”

The Jets are definitely feeling Wilson’s absence in that receiving room. Sure, Adonai Mitchell showed up with eight grabs for 102 yards and a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 13, but outside of him, the entire unit looked pretty flat. The final stat line showed the Jets managing only 159 passing yards. With the Miami Dolphins lining up next, Wilson is still unlikely to return next week.

Wilson aggravated his knee and landed on injured reserve. And once you hit IR, you are out for four games. He’s already missed the last three, so you can pretty much pencil in next week as another DNP. After that? He becomes eligible to return in Week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Now, nothing’s official yet, but the more realistic target feels like Week 16, as Glenn hopes, too. That’s only happening if the Jets activate him the moment he’s eligible. And as things stand, that part is still very much a toss-up. What we do know is that the HC would love to have him back. After all, despite missing four games, Wilson still leads the team with 36 catches for 395 yards and four touchdowns.

In the meantime, Mitchell and John Metchie III have stepped up as the go-to options. Between the two, they’ve combined for 44 targets across their seven games together. And if Wilson actually makes it back before the season wraps, these newer Jets wideouts might end up forming a pretty interesting trio alongside him down the stretch.

Garrett Wilson’s injury timeline so far

Wilson’s trouble really started back in Week 6 against the Denver Broncos. The 25-year-old wideout landed awkwardly on an incomplete pass during the Jets’ second-to-last play of the game, a rough finish to an already tough 13–11 loss. Not long after, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Wilson had hyperextended his knee and would probably miss a couple of weeks.

And that’s exactly what happened. He sat out Weeks 7 and 8, then made his return in Week 10 after the Jets’ bye. But that return didn’t go the way anyone hoped. Facing the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, Wilson tweaked the same knee again. He left the field, tried to gut it out, and came back in. But he couldn’t haul in a single catch before the injury forced him out for good.

Since that game, he’s been sidelined for three straight weeks, and the Jets’ offense has felt every bit of that absence. Now, Aaron Glenn is keeping the door open and sounding pretty optimistic about Wilson’s chances of coming back in Week 16. But with the way this injury has played out so far, nothing’s official yet.