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Jets Sign WR Thompkins, Waive/Injured S Middleton

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The New York Jets have signed wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins and waived/injured safety Doug Middleton.

Thompkins returns to the Jets after playing seven games with them during the 2015 season. He was waived/injured by New York last September after a groin injury.

With 70 career catches in stops with New England, Oakland and New York, Thompkins steps in as the Jets' most experienced wide receiver. The team lost projected No. 1 receiver Quincy Enunwa to a season-ending neck injury on Aug. 5.

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Thompkins might be best remembered by Jets fans for having the ball knocked from his hands in a Week 17 loss to Buffalo, a game New York needed to win to make the playoffs.

Jets WR Kenbrell Thompkins
Jets wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, left, gets tackled by Leonard Johnson of the New England Patriots during their game at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 27, 2015. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

The 29-year-old's best season came as a rookie with the Patriots in 2013, when he caught 32 passes for 466 yards and four touchdowns.

Middleton tore a pectoral muscle in the Jets' preseason-opening win over Tennessee.

After spending much of last season on the practice squad, Middleton produced his most memorable moment in the season finale when he recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown. The score came after Bills returner Mike Gillislee let the kick roll into the end zone, mistakenly thinking it would result in a touchback.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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