Jets veteran G Kelechi Osemele told reporters on Wednesday that he got a third opinion on his shoulder injury and the doctor said he needs surgery because his labrum is torn off the bone, per Connor Hughes.
The Jets haven’t authorized the surgery, but Osemele says he’s getting it anyway on Friday. Osemele explained that this is a 4-6 month recovery from surgery, but he “100 percent” wants to continue playing next year, per Manish Mehta.
According to Osemele, the Jets have fined him the maximum amount and he has since filed a grievance against the team. Osemele mentioned that he informed the team of his decision on Tuesday and new GM Joe Douglas was “upset,” per Hughes.
Osemele was asked if he anticipates being released by the Jets this offseason, given his contract situation and the decision to have surgery: “Absolutely. 100 percent.”
Osemele said that Douglas admitted to him that the team inadvertently sent blank MRIs to doctors and he called it an “honest mistake” by the team, per Mehta.
This comes after reports from last week mentioned that the Jets and Osemele were at odds over whether or not he should undergo shoulder surgery. The team claims that the injury is a pre-existing one from Osemele’s time with the Raiders before joining the Jets, but multiple doctors have told Osemele that they believe he needs surgery.
“It’s been killing me,” Osemele said of the injury last week, via ESPN.com. “I’m just trying to get this done. I’ve done everything I can. I’ve been at work every day, waking up at 5 in the morning, doing all the rehab and the treatments and stuff like that. I’m like the last dude out of here at night. I’m doing everything I can.
“I’m working with my agent. We’re communicating with the team. There’s just not communication between the team and my doctor and my agent. It’s just been butting heads for whatever reason. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon.”
Osemele missed Saturday’s practice, which resulted in the Jets fining him for conduct detrimental to the team.
Osemele, 30, is a former second-round pick of the Ravens back in 2012. He played out his rookie contract with the Ravens before signing a five year, $58.5 million contract with the Raiders back in 2016.
The Raiders traded Osemele to the Jets this offseason for a fifth-round pick. He stands to make base salaries of $9.7 million and $11.2 million over the next two years of the agreement.
In 2019, Osemele has appeared in three games for the Jets, making three starts.
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