New York Jets Sign Antone Smith, Place Bernard Pierce On IR

Bilal Powell must be feeling pretty lonely, with Forte nursing a dodgy hamstring, Pierce finding himself sidelined with a hamstring issue and Khiry Robinson working his way back from a broken leg suffered last November, he hasn't had much company in the Jets backfield.

The Jets announced Tuesday morning that they had been forced to place Bernard Pierce on injured reserve. Pierce appeared in 7 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, although he only registered 6 carries for 11 yards on the season. The 6'0 222lb runner spent the first three years of his career in Baltimore before finding his way to Florida. After being signed by the Jets in July, he's been limited during camp with a hamstring problem and now finds himself on IR.

To replace Pierce, the Jets signed veteran running back Antone Smith who appeared in 5 games with the Chicago Bears in 2015 after spending the first 5 years of his career in Atlanta. This is a numbers signing for the Jets, Smith has recorded just 30 carries for 297 yards over a 6 year career, and will obviously be a long-shot to make the team.

With Forte and Robinson still working their way back to full fitness, Antone Smith will come in to take some of the burden off Bilal Powell, and will join Romar Morris, Dominique Williams and newly signed Lache Seastrunk in the Jets backfield.