Asked about his assessment of Ruckert’s season, HC Robert Saleh said: “A lot of improvement. We found a lot of versatility with him. It’s unfortunate he got hurt, against Washington, played some fullback and did a really nice job back there. If you can create that versatility, one at the point of attack, he’s already a really good blocker to show versatility in the backfield and split as a wide receiver, really excited about him and the things that we can do with him.”
Count Year 2 as baby steps for a big dude who expects more from himself as he prepares for the offseason.
“I think overall the game slowed down a lot more this year,” Ruckert said. “We had a lot going on last year with coming back from the injury, learning a new style of offense and being from college systems and stuff and going through the huddle and that aspect of the game. I was able to play a lot faster, I felt healthier, had that little issue at the end of the year, but I feel good about it. I’m excited, not satisfied with how we played as a team this year and just want to use that in the offseason and continue to work to our goal to do that. I have to do my part.”
That “little issue at the end of the year he mentioned” was landing in the concussion protocol after the Week 16 (Dec. 16) victory over Washington. He did not recover in time to play in the final two games, at Cleveland and at New England. The injury cut short Ruckert’s increase in playing time after Uzomah suffered a season-ending MCL injury against Atlanta in Week 14 (Dec. 3). In the Jets next game, a win over visiting Houston, Ruckert was on the field for 33 plays (49%), his biggest showing of the season when he made 3 catches for 37 yards.
“First [this offseason] I want to get my body ready again,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, I can start training until you start feeling 100 percent. Continue to fine tune little parts of my game.” He added: “I want to continue to stay…
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