John Conner’s first stint with the Jets ended in 2012.
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He’ll be back.
It’s “Terminator 2” for the Jets, who brought back John Conner to the team on Tuesday after placing fullback Tommy Bohanon on injured reserve with a broken collarbone. Conner was drafted by the Jets and spent two full seasons with the team before he was cut in the middle of the 2012 season. The player nicknamed the Terminator by head coach Rex Ryan is back with the Jets after stints with the Bengals and Giants.
Conner acknowledged “there’s a lot on my plate” in terms of learning the new West Coast offense.
“Same type of fullback will be used, maybe a little bit more,” Conner said. “More versatile situations, more passing situations, more carrying situations. We’ll see.”
Conner’s original stint with the Jets did not end well after he suffered an MCL sprain and was waived. He never really developed beyond being a blocking fullback. He struggled in particular with becoming a pass-catching threat out of the backfield and sometimes seemed lost in blitz pickup.
Ryan would often call Conner by a nickname other than the Terminator moniker, choosing “Concrete,” for his hard-hitting blocking style.
Conner seemed to be out of the NFL for good, but now there’s a sequel for the Terminator.
“I’m the same guy,” Conner said. “I’m going to go out there the best way I can — add physicality to the running game and keep things going.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
