His future uncertain, Frank Gore will miss Jets’ season finale due to lung contusion
It’s possible that Frank Gore has already played his last game — with the Jets and in the NFL.
The running back will miss New York’s season finale on Sunday due to a lung contusion, Adam Gase announced Monday. Gore suffered the injury in Gang Green’s Week 16 win over the Browns.
Gore’s 16-year career could end with this injury. The 37-year-old is an impending free agent and has shown his age this season. He recently acknowledged his uncertain future beyond 2020.
“I’ve got to be real with myself, how teams think about my age,” Gore said in late November. “They might not want a 38-year-old running back on the team.
“It’s tough because I don’t know about next year.”
Gore was the Jets’ lead back for most of this season, but he wasn’t particularly productive. He registered 653 rushing yards on 187 attempts, resulting in a career-worst 3.5 yards per carry. He found the end zone just two times.
While this has not been a statistical season to remember for Gore, the five-time Pro Bowler did just achieve a major milestone while wearing green. Prior to exiting Sunday’s win over the Browns, Gore became just the third member of the 16,000-yard rushing club, joining Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.
If Gore does call it a career after 2020, he’ll finish with exactly 16,000 yards on the ground.
Gore has also played a part in mentoring the Jets’ young backs, even if his usage was critiqued for taking snaps away from them. Inexperienced rushers like rookie La’Mical Perine, Ty Johnson and Josh Adams got a chance to learn from a future Hall of Famer.
“I can’t say enough about what he’s done for our team,” Gase said Monday, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
