Todd Bowles, as is his routine for every midweek meeting with reporters, placed a piece of paper with a list on it on top of the podium in the interview room on Friday and ran down the Jets injury report.
It went like this:
“[Lorenzo] Mauldin didn’t practice; he’s out. [Matt] Forte did not practice; he’s out. [Austin] Seferian-Jenkins did not practice; he’s out. [Steve] McLendon did not practice; he’s out. Nick Marshall did not practice; he’s doubtful. Robby Anderson did not practice due to illness; he’s questionable. Bilal Powell was limited; he’s questionable. Brandon Wilds was limited; he’s questionable. Brandon Marshall was limited; he’s questionable. Juston Burris was limited; he’s questionable. Sheldon Richardson was limited; he’s questionable. Muhammad Wilkerson was limited; he’s questionable.’’
There was a pause after the Jets coach rattled off what seemed to be half of his roster injured entering Sunday’s season finale against the Bills at MetLife Stadium when he was asked, tongue-in-cheek, “Is that it?’’
“For now,’’ Bowles said with as much of a deadpan as he could muster as this lost season nears its merciful end.
Jets cornerback Buster Skrine said he’s “never seen anything like this,’’ referring to the rash of injuries the team has suffered, with 19 players on injured reserve and some 72 players used this season.
“One thing I’ve noticed is a lot of times I’ll be on the practice field and I’ll see a new face and wonder, ‘Where did he come from?’ ’’ Skrine said.
Bowles, as he spoke to reporters, was just minutes removed from conducting the team’s final practice of the season. Nearly half of the five minutes Bowles spoke was spent on the injuries.
Then came the fun stuff that so often becomes a fabric of losing seasons.
“Todd, do you think you deserve to be back next year?’’ Bowles was asked, referring to the fan unrest and speculation that owner Woody Johnson might fire him after only two seasons.
“I’ll deal with next week’s questions next week,’’ Bowles said. “I think we had a bad year overall. It’s not [about] deserving or undeserving. We have a job to do to win and you don’t win all the time.’’
Bowles was also asked if he has spoken this week to Johnson, who was conspicuously absent from last week’s loss to the Patriots in New England, raising speculation that it was related to Johnson being disgusted with the season.
“I talk to him every week,’’ Bowles said.
When pressed, saying people were wondering why he was not at the game, when he attends virtually every game, Bowles said, “He had a personal commitment.’’
Among the few topics brought up to Bowles were the comments made by Wilkerson on Thursday that indicated the team’s training staff didn’t have a plan for his recovery from the broken leg he suffered at the end of 2015.
“I’ve talked to Mo and we handle every injury in-house,’’ Bowles said. “We report injuries; we don’t go into discussion about them, and that’s all I have to say about that.’’
Asked if he wishes he limited Wilkerson more earlier in the season, since Wilkerson said he came back too soon, Bowles said, “No, it was fine.’’
When asked if he was disappointed that Wilkerson blamed the training staff for his poor season, Bowles said: “We handled it internally. It’s fine.’’
The reality, though, is that there’s little that’s truly “fine’’ with this franchise at the moment. And Friday’s day of going through the motions was evidence of that.
The locker room, during the 45-minute period open to the media, was virtually empty of players, and some of those who were in there had little to say.
Veteran linebacker David Harris, a player who’s been praised in the media since the day he was drafted and who’s supposed to be one of the team leaders, brusquely waved off a request by The Post to talk, hurrying out of the locker room.
The locker of receiver Brandon Marshall was already cleared out of most of his belongings, including the library of books he keeps on a shelf, as well as his army of cleats and practice gear. It looked like Marshall, who was not present in the locker room Friday, had gotten a head start on the offseason — an offseason that cannot come soon enough for the Jets.