Jets are cutting wide receiver Xavier Gipson after his costly fumble in opener, AP source says

The New York Jets are releasing wide receiver Xavier Gipson after his costly fumble on a kickoff return in the season-opening loss to Pittsburgh a person with knowledge of the decision reported The Associated Press on Wednesday Gipson in his third season with the Jets was returning a kickoff in place of the injured Kene Nwangwu on Sunday when he had the momentum-changing mistake in New York s - loss After the Steelers scored to make it a two-point competition early in the fourth quarter Gipson fumbled on the ensuing kickoff Pittsburgh recovered and the Steelers took the lead two plays later on Aaron Rodgers second TD throw in a -second span Gipson continued to return kicks after the gaffe which was the first turnover of the battle But afterward coach Aaron Glenn bemoaned the company s turnovers and declared You will not be on the field with this club if you re going to cause us to lose games if you re going to cause issues like that He backed that up Wednesday by cutting Gipson a move that was first announced by the New York Post The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the association didn t announce the move Glenn s regular news conference was scheduled for later Wednesday morning Nwangwu injured a hamstring early in the contest so Gipson who was New York s primary punt returner stepped in on the kickoff return unit Glenn explained Monday that Nwangwu s injury was still being evaluated If Nwangwu is forced to miss time the Jets could turn to Isaiah Davis rookie Arian Smith or practice squad members Jamaal Pritchett and Keilan Robinson who was signed Tuesday to return kickoffs Pritchett also could be an option to replace Gipson as the primary punt returner Gipson was signed as an undrafted free agent in out of Stephen F Austin He won a roster spot in training camp that summer and returned a punt yards for the winning touchdown in overtime to beat the Buffalo Bills in the season opener that year the event during which Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles tendon four snaps into his debut for New York The -year-old Gipson had catches for yards and a touchdown with the Jets along with yards rushing and a TD on nine carries He averaged yards on punt returns and yards on kickoffs This story has been corrected to show that Gibson was in his third not second season with the Jets AP NFL https apnews com hub NFL Source