The Jets on Tuesday quietly signed a young offensive lineman who happens to be the son of an NBA legend.
The signing of Nick Dawkins, a 6-4, 305-pound undrafted guard and center, went somewhat unnoticed because he was essentially brought to the practice squad to add depth to a line that lost starting left guard Dylan Parham to a knee injury Sunday.
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The 24-year-old Dawkins is the son of longtime NBA favorite Darryl Dawkins, who played for the 76ers, Nets, Jazz and Pistons and died of a heart attack in 2015 when Nick was 13. Nick Dawkins wears No. 53 in honor of one of his father's NBA uniform numbers.
Asked if he's any good at basketball, Dawkins told The Post: "No, that's why I'm here. I can get a lot of rebounds, block a lot of shots and foul, but I can't really put the ball in the hoop.''
Dawkins said his dad is always in his thoughts.
"I think about him every single day — more so because I miss him, and I wish he'd been able to see the things I've been able to do and how I try to represent our last name,'' Dawkins said. "I think about legacy, but honestly I'm just trying to carve my own path. I guess doing that is subconsciously still thinking about him, but I'm really just trying to make my own name, make my own bones.''
Nick Dawkins (53) of the Baltimore Ravens lines up against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half of a preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 15, 2026. Getty Images
Dawkins, who is cousins with Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who is Darryl Dawkins' godson, was signed first by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent after the NFL Draft in April and was waived Sept. 3.
"This is the first place that was going to give me a fair shake,'' he said of the Jets signing him. "I was on the couch for a couple of weeks. I came in for a workout, and I'm appreciative of it.''
He has a familiar face in the locker room in Jets left tackle Olu Fashanu, with whom he played at Penn State.
Fashanu's face lit up when Dawkins' signing was brought up to him on Thursday.
Darryl Dawkins (53) of the New Jersey Nets shoots against the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, circa 1985. Dawkins played for the Nets from 1982 to 1987. Getty Images
"I think of Nick like a brother, so to have him in the locker room, another familiar face from Penn State, that's cool,'' he told The Post. "Growing up, I played basketball, so I knew about Darryl Dawkins and everything. Once we introduced ourselves at Penn State, I connected the last name. Eventually, we got to talking about it, and he told us a lot of stories about his dad that were pretty entertaining.''
The Jets players who didn't practice Wednesday — RB Breece Hall (quad), WR Adonai Mitchell (finger), TE Mason Taylor (thumb), G Dylan Parham (knee) and LB Kiko Mauigoa (quad) — also didn't practice Thursday and are highly likely to sit out Sunday's game at the Bears.
Edge rusher Kingsley Enegbare, however, was addition to the report on Thursday with a knee ailment and didn't practice. This is a concern for the Jets, particularly against a stout Chicago rushing attack if he cannot play.
TEs Kenyon Sadiq (back) and Jeremy Ruckert (knee) were limited in practice but are expected to play.
Starting safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was lost to a groin injury early in the season opener and hasn't played since, practiced fully Thursday after being limited Wednesday and will play Sunday.
"We're certainly excited about [Fitzpatrick] coming back,'' defensive coordinator Brian Duker said Thursday. "He'll show who he is as a player, like he has throughout his career.''
Despite the fact that DE Will McDonald has been quiet for the past two games and played only a limited number of snaps Sunday in Detroit, Duker praised him Thursday, saying he's "very happy with Will,'' and adding, "He's gone out there and done a nice job — obviously the big sack against Tennessee comes to mind.''
Duker said he has no idea which QB the Bears will play Sunday, Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent. Keenum started Monday night and was 24 of 34 for 247 yards, two TDs and no INTs in the Bears' 27-7 rout of the Eagles. Starter Caleb Williams remains out with a hamstring injury suffered two games ago.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and Duker both coached in Detroit when Bears head coach Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator. Asked on Thursday if there is any advantage to knowing Johnson's tendencies, Duker said: "I'd actually think a lot of times that cancels itself out because he knows some of our tendencies too. So, as much as there's familiarity, there's equal knowledge on both sides. It ends up being a little bit of cat and mouse at that point.''
