Greg McElroy had surgery on the thumb he injured in last night's preseason finale.
McElroy will be out indefinitely, but the spokesman said the Jets have no plans at this time to place him on injured reserve.
It is a tough end of a very impressive preseason for the rookie. The competition was not great, but he hit over 60% of his passes and showed the kind of competitor he is, hanging tough despite taking some shots.
This year for McElroy is all about learning the playbook, getting some experience by running the scout team, and hitting the weight room to add some meat onto his slight frame so he can drive the ball into tight windows better.
Interestingly, the Jets cut Drew Willy to the practice squad. If McElroy is not ready to go Week 1, that would leave them with only two quarterbacks. The odds of two injuries are low, but there have been instances of a pair of quarterbacks getting knocked out of a game like the 2005 game against Jacksonville where Chad Pennington and Jay Fielder got injured within plays of each other (although Pennington finished the game out). That seems kind of risky. Few third stringers are great options, but the threat of the pass at least stays on the table.