C.J. Mosley injury: Jets’ star linebacker to return vs. Patriots in Week 7

The New York Jets defense will be receiving a huge boost ahead of Monday night's Week 7 showdown against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium.

Veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley, who has missed the last four games because of a groin injury, told reporters Thursday that he's playing versus the rival Patriots.

CJ Mosley says he is playing Monday night. #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) October 17, 2019

The Jets signed Mosley to a five-year, $85 million free-agent contract in March. The star linebacker received quite a compliment from Bill Belichick on Thursday when the Patriots head coach was asked about the Jets getting back some of their injured defensive players.

"I don’t know if the packages are any different," Belichick said. "Coach (Gregg) Williams is a good game planning coach, so he’ll do things differently from week-to-week based on what the offense is doing and how he matches up with them and so-forth. But, it’s not like it’s a new defense every week. They change it up, and certainly getting (Quinnen) Williams back has helped and Mosley, if he’s back, he’s one of the best linebackers in the league. So, I mean, getting those kind of players back would help any defense."

Mosley didn't play when these teams last met in Week 3 at Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots earned a 30-14 win.

This matchup could be much more competitive with Mosley and Jets starting quarterback Sam Darnold -- who missed three games battling mono -- back in the mix. Another factor to consider is the Jets likely will be full of confidence Monday night coming off their first win of the season last Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.