Moving on to non-Island topics in today’s muted day-after-Miami, LB Calvin Pace came into the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center locker room to clear up a remark he made immediately after the 23-20 overtime win over the Dolphins regarding RB Reggie Bush, who left the game with a left knee injury late in the first half.
“Apparently I said something about Reggie Bush, trying to get him out of the game,” Pace said. “I wasn’t trying to say it as if we were trying to hurt him. I’m sad to see him get hurt. We aren’t running any kind of bounty system or anything like that, and actually, looking at the play, somebody just fell on his knee.
“I guess I need to say things in a different manner, and I’ll do a better job of it next time.”
The word from South Florida today is that Bush’s knee injury isn’t serious and that he may be able to return to action as soon as Sunday when Miami visits Arizona. That’s good news for Bush.
And perhaps not as good for the Jets, who could face him for the second time this season in five weeks at MetLife Stadium. Bush is currently No. 4 on the NFL’s rushing-leaders list this season with 302 yards on 50 carries for a gaudy 6.0-yard average. And it’s an even gaudier 6.5 yards per carry in his three career games vs. the Jets (26 carries, 169 yards).
Figuring Out OT
Sunday’s game was the Jets’ first in overtime under the NFL’s OT rules that were modified for last season. Had they moved into range for a Nick Folk field goal on their first possession and he hit it, the Dolphins and Dan Carpenter would have had the chance to tie it. Since the Jets punted on that first series, Carpenter’s kick was of course for the win.
And with that 48-yarder sailing wide left, Carpenter has begun an unusual new chapter in his career vs. the Green & White. Including Sunday’s first kick from 21 yards out, the Dolphins’ Pro Bowl kicker had made his first 14 field goals against the Jets dating to 2008. But he’ll go into the Oct. 28 rematch having missed two of his last three.
Perhaps Carpenter’s miss and the outcome of the game was preordained, since the Jets have gotten the extra session figured out lately, especially against the Aqua & Coral.
Their last OT games were the back-to-back wins at Detroit and Cleveland in the middle of the 2010 season. In fact, the Jets have won their last three overtime games and their last four on the road.
The Jets are now 19-19-2 all-time in overtime. And that includes a perfect record against their friendly AFC East rivals. They’re 5-0-1 in OT vs. the Dolphins, 2-0-1 at Miami.
Other Notes
Due to overtime, injuries and a few discussions by the replacement refs, the game lasted exactly four hours. The last four-hour game the Jets played: the 2000 Monday Night Miracle in the Meadowlands against the same Fish, a 40-37 overtime win that went 4:10 into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Folk’s 33-yard kick to decide things was the fourth gamewinning kick of his Jets career and his third “walk-off” FG. He’s tried six field goals in all to tie the score or put the Jets ahead in the last two minutes of a game or in overtime. He’s missed only one, a 47-yard wide-right miss that would have beaten Cleveland in ’10.
Santonio Holmes won that game vs. the Browns, and he played a big role in Sunday’s triumph. His nine receptions were the most by a Jet since Jerricho Cotchery had nine against Kansas City in 2008, and Tone’s 147 receiving yards were the most by a Jet since Cotchery’s 152 at Tennessee in ’07.
And for trivial trivia, consider that LaRon Landry’s 18-yard interception-return TD was the shortest IR TD by a Jet since Aaron Glenn returned a 13-yarder vs. Ty Detmer and Philadelphia in 1996 and the shortest on the road since Mo Lewis went 15 yards vs. Kerry Collins and Carolina in the “Shovel Pass Game” in 1995.
Late Transactions
Late today the Jets announced that LB Bryan Thomas and WR Patrick Turner — BT and PT — have been re-signed. The team also waived DT Marcus Dixon, T Dennis Landolt and CB Donnie Fletcher, who went on the Miami trip in case Ellis Lankster’s low back strain prevented him from playing. But Lankster did play, Fletcher was deactivated, and for 24 hours he’s in the NFL’s waiver system.
