Jets Hold Four Injured Defensive Starters Out Of Practice

NFL News - January 22nd, 2010 - Written by John

As both offenses seem to be relatively healthy heading into Sunday's AFC Championship, the focus this week has been on the defenses as both teams have had practice interrupted by NFL injuries.

The New York Jets will have some concerns leading up to Sunday's bout because their best pass rusher, Shaun Ellis was forced to sit out practice on Wednesday with a broken hand, and only returned Thursday in limited fashion. He is expected to play, but is sore after breaking his hand last week against the San Diego Chargers. According to NFL.com, he plans to have surgery on the hand, and have screws placed to protect it.

"We're telling him it's going to be just fine," Jets head coach Rex Ryan said. He also plans on wearing a bulky cast on his arm, similar to Dallas' DeMarcus Ware in recent weeks.

The defense seems to be the only unit banged up at this point in the New York Jets Injry Report. Safety Kerry Rhodes was also restricted in practice Thursday because of a sore knee he created against the Chargers. Linebackers Bart Scott and David Harris were also limited because of ankle soreness.

What it all amounts to is a big heap of nothing because all of them are expected to play in the game, but the team could certainly use a defense at full strength in practice every day possible as it game plans to deal with an Indianapolis offense with a chip on it's shoulder.

The Jets beat the Colts in a Week 16 meeting where Indianapolis pulled most of it's starters. New York went on to win that game, 29-15. The removal of Peyton Manning and Co. drew the ire of critics who thought the team should try for a perfect season.

The Jets have the league's top-rated defense, but Manning is coming off his fourth MVP season and leads an offense that ranked second in passing during the regular season and tied for the most touchdowns.