Jets Muhammad Wilkerson injures hamstring

A hamstring injury to New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson doesn’t seem to be causing much concern for head coach Todd Bowles, who sounded upbeat that one of his star players won’t be missing much time with the knock.

Midway through Sunday’s session, Wilkerson left the field with a member of the medical staff and headed inside into the team’s facility. Wilkerson showed no noticeable limp or limitations as he left the field and even his head coach seemed to downplay everything.

“I think he tweaked his hamstring as far as I know,” Bowles said on Sunday. “They took him inside to stretch him.”

There is, of course, extra consternation and hand-wringing around these parts when it comes to an injury along the defensive line. Wilkerson, already a star, has become more valuable in recent days with the news of fellow defensive end Sheldon Richardson’s arrest in mid-July.

With Richardson facing a possible suspension – he already will miss the season’s first four games with a league – mandated suspension for violating the substance abuse policy – Wilkerson’s value to the team is very high. Losing Wilkerson for an period of time would hurt a rebuilt defense that relies on its pass rush to be effective.

Sunday represented the fourth day of training camp and Bowles already lost rookie wide receiver Devin Smith to an injury that will likely cost him at least four weeks. Now with an off-day on Monday, there is extra time for Wilkerson to heal.

With that day off, Bowles sounded optimistic that Wilkerson would be back and ready to go when camp reconvenes on Tuesday.

“No, they’re off tomorrow. I don’t think it was serious, if it loosens up should be OK,” Bowles said. “Shouldn’t be out long.”