Israel Abani-Kanda sounded confident in the Jets' locker room Tuesday afternoon as he awaited word on whether he would indeed be a part of the team's initial 53-man roster.
The 21-year-old Brooklyn native had a strong preseason, including a 45-yard touchdown run in a weekend win over the Giants, but as the likely fourth running back, he's not necessarily safe until we know for sure.
“I've been dealing with situations like this my whole life,” Abanikanda told The Post. “Competition is nothing new. You just have to compete and make everybody better.”
tension?
“No,” he said, “I'm not nervous at all. [taking] I just leave it all to God and take it day by day. I just do what I have to do.”
The Jets announced their roster shortly before 5:30 p.m., and it looked good enough.
There were few surprises in the 53-man group, but Abani-Kanda fell to the right of the cut line, joining a running back corps that includes Breece Hall, Braylon Allen and Isaiah Davis.
The Jets went down to 53 players by placing three players on injured or non-football injured reserve, while waiving or releasing 34 players.
There was also an unusual trade with the Bills, in which the Jets sent kick returner Brandon Codrington to Buffalo along with a 2026 seventh-round pick in return for the Bills' 2026 sixth-round pick.
This is the first contract between the two teams since 1987, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
Notably, tight end Kenny Yeboah was among the players placed on injured reserve (the other two were defensive lineman Leki Fotu and quarterback Jordan Travis, who was placed on the NFI list), meaning that Jeremy Ruckert and Tyler Conklin are the only tight ends remaining on the roster.
Tight end will be a position to watch, as more roster shuffling is expected to happen in the coming days as the league cleans up after cutting 32 teams.
Yeboah and Fotu are set to miss at least four weeks on irrelevant dates.
As for Travis, coach Robert Saleh doesn't seem optimistic about the FSU product returning quickly from his broken leg.
“His rehab is obviously going to be a little longer than we expected,” Saleh said. “He's doing great. He's attending every meeting. He's been in every walk-through. Hopefully we'll be able to re-evaluate him later this year.”
Besides the tight ends, another notable development was the defensive line group, which added 10 players to its roster, including undrafted free agents Leonard Taylor III, Eric Watts and Brayden McGregor.
Takk McKinley, who was drafted in the first round by Atlanta in 2017 but did not play last season after being released by the Cowboys, also made the roster after recording 2 1/2 sacks in the final preseason game against the Giants.
Jalen Keef, the former “Mr. Irrelevant” draft pick in the 2024 draft, was among those released, and 2023 seventh-round tight end Zach Kuntz was the only Jets draft pick to fall below the cut line.
Neither Adrian Martinez nor Andrew Peaslee, who were competing for the third quarterback spot, made the 53-man team, but the practice squad was always expected to be the destination for the winner of that battle.
Moves are expected to come in the next 24 hours, with the waiver deadline ending at noon Wednesday after which teams can sign 16 players to their practice squads.
The Jets have the 10th waiver priority slot through Sept. 24, based on 2023 grades.
