New York Jets rookie offensive tackle Max Mitchell has been sidelined for the remainder of the season after doctors reportedly discovered blood clots in one of his lungs and his right leg, his father said.
Speculation and rumors floated around about why Mitchell was sidelined on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings after he was placed on the non-football injury list, or NFI. The Jets lost 27-22.
However, his father, John Mitchell, told ESPN on Thursday that his son has a hereditary blood-clotting condition called factor V Leiden.
“It should not affect his career long term,” John Mitchell said. “Of course, we’re taking a big, great deep breath with all of this, but his future is promising.”
John Mitchell told the New York Post that his son “should be fine” and that the medical condition was “an unexpected temporary setback.”
He was removed from Sunday’s game against the Vikings, his fifth consecutive start, because he was “struggling,” according to Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh.
“I’m not going to get into details on what that is right now,” Saleh said. “I just know he’s out for the year. I’m not going to get into specifics right now because there’s a lot of things we’re trying to sort out. And for him, too.”
Mitchell initially was complaining about difficulty breathing and pain in his side, but doctors found the clots when those symptoms worsened he went in for medical tests.
The 6’6” 299-pound lineman was taken in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL draft by the Jets out of the University of Louisiana.
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