NEW YORK JETS PLACE BAKER & CHREBET ON INJURED RESERVE; SIGN RIDGEWAY FROM PRACTICE SQUAD; ADD ROOKIE WR BRAGG TO PRACTICE SQUAD
New York City – The New York Jets announced today that tight end Chris Baker and wide receiver Wayne Chrebet have been placed on injured reserve. The team also announced that they have signed rookie WR Dante Ridgeway from the Clubs practice squad and signed rookie wide receiver Craig Bragg to the practice squad. The announcements were made by Jets Executive Vice President/General Manager Terry Bradway. The additions of Baker and Chrebet bring the total number of players on the Jets injured reserve list to nine.
Baker, 6-3, 258 pounds, is in his fourth season with the Jets and his first season as a starter. He suffered a fractured fibula on November 6 against the San Diego Chargers with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter. Baker, a third-round draft selection by the Jets in the 2002 NFL Draft, was third on the team in tackles this season with 18 and was also third in receiving yardage (269). This season Baker had established a career-high in receiving yardage and had tied his personal-high with the 18 receptions. For his career, Baker has played in 62 games, starting eight (all this season) and recorded 52 receptions for 602 yards (11.6 avg.) with five touchdowns and added 46 career special teams tackles.
Chrebet, 5-10, 188 pounds, is in his 11th season out of Hofstra University. The native of Garfield, NJ suffered a concussion in the final two minutes of play against the Chargers when he caught a six-yard pass on a third-and-five at the Chargers nine yard-line and was knocked out of bounds. It was the 580th career reception for Chrebet, which stands as the second-most receptions in New York Jets team annals, while his 7,365 yards receiving rank third in team history. A rookie free agent in 1995, Chrebet moved from last on the depth chart that season during training camp to opening day starter and has played in 152 career regular season game, starting 105, and owns a career receiving average of 12.7 and 41 touchdowns. In the postseason, he played in six games, making five starts and recorded 19 catches for 269 yards for a 14.2 average and two scores.
Ridgeway, 6-1, 200-pounds, broke the Mid-American Conference single-season record for catches with 105 in 2004. He became the first player in school history to leave Ball State early for the NFL. Ridgeway was selected in the sixth-round of the 2005 Draft by the St. Louis Rams and was waived when the team cut-down to 65 players before being awarded to the Bengals the following day. He was claimed on waivers by the Jets on September 4, 2005 and spent two weeks on the active roster before being signed to the teams practice squad.
Bragg, a 6-1, 195 pound product of UCLA, was a sixth-round selection of the Green Bay Packers this past April. He was waived by the Packers on their final cut-downs. As a collegian, Bragg was UCLA?s all-time receptions leader with 193 catches for 2,845 yards and also finished first in school history in punt return yardage (961) and second on their punt return list (87). He earned the distinction of becoming the first player in school history to lead the team in receptions in four consecutive seasons. His cousin, Roberto Kelly, played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, including a stint with the New York Yankees.
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