Jets Sign Jordan Clark and Add Sterling Shepard to the Practice Squad

The Jets signed cornerback Jordan Clark to the active roster on Tuesday and added three players to the practice squad, including 10-year veteran receiver Sterling Shepard and returning wideout Tyler Johnson. Two players were released from the taxi squad in the same round of moves.

Five transactions in one afternoon is a lot of churn for a team coming off a win, and it is the second time this month the Jets have rebuilt the unit in the week after setting it. The full picture sits on the Jets roster hub and the practice squad tracker.

Who is Jordan Clark and why was he promoted?

Clark is a 5-9, 184-pound cornerback who had been on the Jets’ practice squad since August 31 and is now on the active roster. He recorded 14 tackles and a pass defensed this preseason. This is familiar ground for him: he was called up from the practice squad in late November last season and appeared in six games, registering nine tackles. Clark originally signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent after a six-year college career split between Arizona State and Notre Dame.

Why did the Jets add two receivers to the practice squad?

Depth. The receiver room thinned out fast in Week 1: Tim Patrick landed on injured reserve the day before the opener, and Omar Cooper Jr. left the game in Nashville after five snaps with an ankle injury. Adding Johnson and Shepard restores experienced options who can be elevated on a game day without a roster move.

Johnson is back in New York after spending the summer with the Dallas Cowboys. He was elevated from the Jets’ practice squad before Week 1 last season and went on to play 12 games, catching 12 passes for 197 yards with a touchdown in the 39-38 win over Cincinnati in Week 8. The 6-1, 208-pound receiver has played 59 NFL games across five seasons with Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Rams and the Jets.

Shepard brings a decade of experience and a familiar New York address. The 5-10, 194-pound receiver spent 2016 through 2023 with the Giants and the last two seasons with Tampa Bay, catching 39 passes for 371 yards and a touchdown in 13 games in 2025. Across 10 NFL seasons he has 443 receptions for 4,800 yards, an average of 10.8 per catch, and 25 touchdowns. He was with the Houston Texans this summer.

Who else did the Jets sign and release?

Safety John Saunders Jr. joins the practice squad after a summer with New England. He signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent in 2025 following two seasons at Ole Miss, where he started all 13 games in his final year and tied for first in the SEC and fifth nationally with four forced fumbles. Before that he played 23 games over three seasons at Miami University in Ohio.

Released from the practice squad were linebacker Jaden Keller and offensive lineman Xavier Newman. Keller signed in May after a minicamp tryout and posted 10 tackles and a pass defensed this preseason; he ranked third at Virginia Tech with 50 tackles last season. Newman had been with the organization since the Titans waived him in October 2023 and played 338 snaps across 25 games from 2022 to 2025, with college starts at center and both guard spots for Baylor.

What does this mean for the Week 2 roster?

It gives head coach Aaron Glenn more usable bodies at two positions that took hits in the opener without spending an active-roster spot on either receiver. Practice squad players can be elevated to the game-day roster up to three times a season before a team has to sign them outright, which is the mechanism explained in our guide to how the NFL practice squad works. Green Bay visits MetLife Stadium on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.