In the first 41 games of his NFL career, John Metchie III scored one touchdown. In the past two, the former Alabama wide receiver has scored two.
Metchie caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Fields in the New York Jets’ 27-14 loss to the New England Patriots on Nov. 13 and a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor in a 23-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Metchie joined the Jets in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 29 and played his third game with New York on Sunday.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn isn’t surprised by Metchie’s strong start in New York. He’s already second on the team in touchdown receptions.
“He’s come from a program at Alabama that’s embedded in him on how he has to work,” Glenn said. “There’s a lot of people that really don’t see what he do behind closed doors, and he’s here every morning 6 o’clock in our indoor catching 300 balls, so if you put all that together with a lot of other things that he do, he’s going to be successful.
“Look at the things he’s overcome. I don’t know if you know his history, but he had an ACL, he fought a battle with an illness, and he’s come back from all those things, so success is in his future no matter what he do, and I’m not surprised at the success he’s having right now.”
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When the Houston Texans selected Metchie in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft after he caught 151 passes for 2,085 yards and 14 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Alabama, the team knew the wide receiver probably wouldn’t start his pro career on time. Metchie had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his final game for the Crimson Tide – a 41-24 victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5, 2021.
But Metchie was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in July 2022, and the illness and its treatment sidelined him until 2023.
According to the National Institutes of Health’s Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, acute promyelocytic leukemia occurs when “there are too many immature blood-forming cells (promyelocytes) in the blood and bone marrow. This buildup of promyelocytes leads to a shortage of normal white and red blood cells and platelets in the body. The signs and symptoms of APL include an increased risk both to bleed and form blood clots. Individuals may also experience excessive tiredness, pain in affected areas, loss of appetite and weight loss.”
Metchie played in 16 regular-season and two playoff games for Houston in 2023 after putting his health problems behind him. He made three starts and played in 13 regular-season and two playoff games in 2024.
After Metchie had 49 receptions for 519 yards and one touchdown in two seasons for Houston, the Eagles acquired Metchie and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick from the Texans for tight end Harrison Bryant and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick in August.
Metchie had four receptions for 18 yards in seven games for Philadelphia when the Eagles sent him and a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft to New York in exchange for cornerback Michael Carter II and a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Metchie has 10 receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns in three games with New York.
“I mean, that’s just more of a mental strain,” Metchie said of working out of his third playbook in three months. “You know, football is football at the end of the day. A defense only plays so many coverages worldwide. They all play the same coverages. On offense, you kind of all run similar things. It’s just what you call it and the offensive philosophy. So it’s more of just a mental strain. But at the end of the day, football is football.”
Metchie joined an unstable offense in New York. The Jets made a quarterback change for Sunday’s game and played the second of at least four games without top receiver Garrett Wilson, who is on injured reserve because of a knee injury.
“I think that just comes with time,” Metchie said of connecting with the New York offense. “Just more time on task, time with the guys, more reps. I think the more reps we get, the more comfortable we get as an offense.”
In their next game, the Jets play the Atlanta Falcons at noon CST Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints 24-10 on Sunday to improve to 4-7. New York’s loss to Baltimore dropped the Jets to 2-9.
“Just watch the tape and get back to work,” Metchie said. “Same thing as last week. We did good things; we did bad things. Build on the good; fix the bad. And then at the end of the day, if we have more good than bad, then we can rest easy.”