Jeremy Ruckert played in eight of the Jets’ first 16 games this year and had just one target, a pass he dropped in Week 2 in Cleveland. He bided his time, though, and in Week 18 in Miami, he finally got a football for the trophy case: his first NFL grab.
“That felt good, but I felt pretty good all year, was just waiting for my time,” Ruckert said after the game. “We had a great tight end group and great coaches, so I just soaked up as much as I could.”
Sunday marked Ruckert’s first extended playing time of the season, because as he noted, he was sitting behind C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin, who combined for 81 catches for 797 yards and five touchdowns.
Conklin had two catches Sunday while Uzomah was inactive, so it was Ruckert’s show – and with no pressure on the team, really, he tried not to put any more on himself.
“Not trying to press too much today, just play hard, and I felt I did my job pretty well,” he said. “Getting some experience today and being in the mix more is always good, because you don’t know until you’re in it, as the older guys tell me, so I tried to play as free as I could.”
Ruckert hurt his foot in the Senior Bowl last February and didn’t get into the flow of his first training camp until mid-August, so he’s excited to enter this offseason healthy and ready to get to work right away.
“I’m excited. I was a little unhealthy last offseason, so having a full offseason will be big,” he said. “I’ll take this offseason very seriously to come back next year and try to be better.”
And, while his rookie season ended on a down note after a strong start, the Long Island native is looking forward to the future of his team, the one that used to play right near his hometown.
“Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted, but I love these guys and this place,” Ruckert said. “I grew up here, so I take extreme pride in this, and hopefully, we have the pieces put in place to have a good offseason, get healthy, and attack next year.”
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