What happened to Xavier Newman? Jets guard carted off the field after brutal injury vs. Steelers on SNF

Jets offensive lineman Xavier Newman suffered a potentially horrific neck injury during their Sunday Night Football game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. It came when Aaron Rodgers was intercepted by Beanie Bishop, for the second time in the game, during the third quarter. A perfectly thrown ball bounced off Garrett Wilson's hands and chest and landed in the hands of the defender.

As he returned the ball, he found his fellow Steelers defenders blocking Jets players from getting to him. Linebacker Patrick Queen did his job by smashing into Xavier Newman, who fell backward on the New York sideline. The ball was returned to a first-and-goal situation but attention immediately turned to the guard, who was still down on the ground.

The entire Jets team gathered around him as he there was heightened concern about the injury. Melissa Stark reported on the broadcast that he was conscious but worryingly no movement had yet been observed in his limbs. He was placed on a stretcher and his spine was stabilized before he was carted off to be taken to the University of Pittsburgh Hospital Trauma Center.

Later, it was reported that he had regained feeling in his extremities and squeezed the athletic trainer's hands.

Jets offensive line under duress after Xavier Newman's injury

The Jets offensive line was already depleted before Xavier Newman went down but this latest injury compounded the issue even further. New York knows better than anyone how important that part of their unit is after weakness there led to Aaron Rodgers getting sacked, tearing his Achilles, and missing the entire 2023 season.

Xavier Newman was already filling in for starter Alijah Vera-Tucker, who is out with an ankle injury. With his neck injury, Jake Hanson had to come in his place. The only other offensive lineman for the Jets is now Olu Fashanu.

The effects were felt immediately. It was not long after the guard was carted off the field that Aaron Rodgers started looking uncomfortable. First, he was hit which caused his left hand to bleed. Then T.J. Watt, who had been kept quiet until then got into the offensive backfield and batted down a pass from the quarterback.

For all the optimism surrounding the acquisition of Davante Adams which was supposed to propel the Jets to the top of the AFC East and into playoffs contention and Super Bowl conversation, the Jets' offensive line might be a bigger issue going forward.