The Jets are ‘comfortable’ with Chuks Okorafor’s reasoning for leaving New England
About a month after officially being released by the New England Patriots, Chuks Okorafor has signed with the New York Jets. Okorafor’s release came after he left the team (placed on the exempt/left squad list, reserved for players who inexplicably do not report) after appearing in just one game in New England last season in which he was benched early on.
Aaron Glenn, Jets head coach, discussed the signing with the media, saying that the team did a lot of investigating into his departure from New England and after speaking with him, they are “comfortable with his answers.”
Although his ‘answers’ for leaving the team are unknown, one possible reason is he was unhappy with being moved from right tackle — his career position — to the left side.
“I think it takes time,” he said when asked his comfort level in playing left tackle last spring. “I played right my whole time in [Pittsburgh]. It’s obviously new. I’m trying to learn left as of now. I’m just trying to learn a whole new playbook. I’m trying to learn a whole new city, a whole new town. So, everything is kind of new to me now.”
Regardless of what his ‘answers’ for the Jets were, the team is clearly not worried about it. Presumably, through their investigation, the Jets determined that Okorafor’s departure was a one-off-event stemmed from a bad situation in New England, not a concerning trend. Especially because he will likely once again play right tackle — their 2024 first round pick Olu Fashanu is expected to play left.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
