Update: Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that Elijah Moore sustained a quad injury in practice Thursday and will undergo an MRI exam.
That sound you hear coming from Florham Park? That's the Elijah Moore hype train, and it's gaining steam.
Moore has spent much of his first months with the Jets dazzling reporters viewing the team's sessions, and he's started to build a bit of a reputation as a highlight-maker -- at least in practice. Moore gets his first chance to take the field as an NFL player Saturday, when his Jets face off against the local rival Giants at the stadium they each call home.
It's the start of what Moore's former collegiate teammate (and current NFL stud) A.J. Brown believes will be a highly productive career, one built on the back of Moore's relentless work ethic.
"It ain't about his physical attributes. It ain't about none of that," Brown said of Moore when asked who was the hardest worker he knew during an appearance on the Raw Room podcast. "It's his mindset. That's why we clicked on another level. ... When I was in school, I lived with D.K. (Metcalf) a little bit. ... When (Moore) got to school, I was like 'bro, you can come live with me, G.' Because my mindset was already crazy, but for him, he was only going to make me better.
"I even took myself out of a game so he could score his first touchdown. Coach called the play. Because I see him working. I know what he wanted to do. I know the dreams he has. He gonna go crazy this year with the Jets."
Moore's hype train received a jet booster with Brown's next declaration.
"He a real sleeper. I'll put my money on him (for) Offensive Rookie of the Year, without a doubt, over anybody," Brown said. "I ain't even discrediting the guys that went ahead of him. Ain't nobody messing with him. Routes, anything, hands -- it don't matter. Nobody who came out is messing with him."
That's a high bar to set for Moore, but certainly not impossible. Winning such an award would put Moore on par with Dak Prescott, Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley, Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert. He'd also be the first receiver to win the award since another New York wideout -- Odell Beckham -- stole the show back in 2014.
Moore's production depends on another fellow rookie, Zach Wilson, who's still getting his feet under him in his first NFL camp. But if it comes down to work ethic -- something the well-built Brown knows plenty about -- more than anything, perhaps Moore will make his old Ole Miss teammate look like a fortune-teller.
