Four departures in the past month have left the manager with just 17 senior professionals at his disposal.
And with nine games coming up before the end of March – including next Tuesday's rearranged fixture at Crewe – Jewell knows the squad could be stretched to the limit.
He said: "We might have left ourselves a little bit short but that's not to say it is the end of it. We are always looking for new players, better players, and we've got the loan market to exploit too.
"I'm aware we have a lot of games coming up, especially in March, and with injuries and suspensions we might have to go into the transfer market.
"It's all about getting the right people – I won't take someone just for the sake of it.
"Let's not kid ourselves, we have been fortunate with injuries this season, and when you're on a winning run, little niggles tend to get lost somewhere. Players know that if they're out of the side, they might not get back in."
Scott Green, Lee Ashcroft, Ged Brannan and Dave Beasant have all left the club since the end of January.
Green and Ashcroft had the remaining few months of their contracts terminated by mutual consent, Brannan is on loan at Dunfermline, while Beasant was allowed to leave to join Brighton.
Of the four departures, only the release of Beasant was done with reluctance by Latics – the goalkeeper had a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if a club offered him the chance of first team football.
Jewell said: "Ged has been out of the picture and needed to play football and Ashy hasn't had a look in all season.
"As far as Greenie is concerned, he has played a lot of games for Wigan and has been a good servant of the club.
"I told him I wouldn't be giving him a contract for next year, and I work on the basis that if people are fair to me, I'll try and be fair to them."
Green has joined Wrexham until the end of the campaign while Ashcroft is interesting Peterborough, Leigh RMI, Chester City and even Lancaster City in the UniBond Premier League.
Meanwhile, Latics and Crewe will lock horns a week tonight at Gresty Road after Saturday's clash fell victim to a frozen pitch.
All tickets brought for the original date are valid – fans snapped up the 1,600 allocation well in advance.
Jewell said: "Saturday's game being off was disappointing as we were looking forward to it and I'm sure Crewe were.
"But if it was unplayable you don't want to play any game in lottery circumstances, never mind a big game like this.
"I spoke to Dario Gradi who said the pitch was rock hard and after that it was up to the referee."
Article from the Wigan Evening Post.