By Jerry Del Priore
The New York Jets will open the 2019 season with returning defensive lineman and former Beach Channel High School football player Folorunso “Foley” Fatukasi on the roster, while Blessuan Austin, an ex-Campus Magnet High School student-athlete and a 2019 sixth-round draft pick of the Jets, will start the year on the reserve/non-football injury list, per the league’s official transactions report.
The six-foot-four, 318-pound Fatukasi saw action in one game last season with New York. The Far Rockaway native played on the defensive line for four years with the University of Connecticut (UCONN) Huskies. The Jets selected Fatukasi in the sixth round, 180th overall, of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Austin, a cornerback out of Rutgers University, still appears to be working his way back from an ACL injury. The rookie will be ineligible to practice or play for the first six weeks of the season due to his placement on the reserve/NFI list.
Weak at the cornerback position, it appears Austin will get a chance to officially make New York’s roster if he proves he’s healthy enough to play in the secondary, and contribute.
