Jets Sign WR Thompkins, Waive/Injured S Middleton
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The New York Jets have signed wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins and waived/injured safety Doug Middleton.
Thompkins returns to the Jets after playing seven games with them during the 2015 season. He was waived/injured by New York last September after a groin injury.
With 70 career catches in stops with New England, Oakland and New York, Thompkins steps in as the Jets' most experienced wide receiver. The team lost projected No. 1 receiver Quincy Enunwa to a season-ending neck injury on Aug. 5.
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Thompkins might be best remembered by Jets fans for having the ball knocked from his hands in a Week 17 loss to Buffalo, a game New York needed to win to make the playoffs.
The 29-year-old's best season came as a rookie with the Patriots in 2013, when he caught 32 passes for 466 yards and four touchdowns.
Middleton tore a pectoral muscle in the Jets' preseason-opening win over Tennessee.
After spending much of last season on the practice squad, Middleton produced his most memorable moment in the season finale when he recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown. The score came after Bills returner Mike Gillislee let the kick roll into the end zone, mistakenly thinking it would result in a touchback.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)