Isaiah Crowell’s up-and-down season with Jets is over

The season of Jets leading rusher Isaiah Crowell is over.

Crowell was placed on injured reserve Friday after the Jets deemed his toe injury to be too severe for him to recover for the final weeks of the season. Crowell had already been ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Texans, but now he will be shut down for the year. Crowell had never missed a game before Saturday, playing in 77 straight with the Jets and Browns since entering the league in 2014.

Crowell, 25, had one great game for the Jets this season, but was mainly inconsistent. He finishes the year with 685 rushing yards on 143 carries and scored six touchdowns. He also had 21 catches for 152 yards.

Crowell set a Jets single-game record with 219 rushing yards against the Broncos in October. He only broke 100 yards rushing in one other game, and that was Week 1 against the Lions when he had 102, including a 62-yard touchdown. The Jets signed Crowell to a three-year, $12 million deal in March. His first season with the Jets might best be remembered for him pretending to wipe his butt with the football after scoring a touchdown in Cleveland. He then received an endorsement deal from a company that makes a toilet-paper substitute.

The Jets may cut Crowell this offseason, especially if they chase expected free agent Le’Veon Bell.

With Crowell out and Bilal Powell already on IR, the Jets will turn to Elijah McGuire and rookie Trenton Cannon to carry the load. They also are expected to elevate De’Angelo Henderson from the practice squad to serve as the third running back.

With Darron Lee suspended for the rest of the season, the Jets turned to Neville Hewitt to start at inside linebacker last week. Hewitt played well. He was very active and was credited with seven tackles.

“Actually Hewitt did a really good job,” defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said. “As a matter of fact, we were just talking about him the other day. One, we kind of knew what he was, but being able to step right in, the calls, the communication, he was fine. He really stepped up.”