CORTLAND — The Jets’ depth issues at cornerback came into focus Monday when they moved safety Antonio Allen over and gave him a long look there.
The Jets had to get creative because they are without three of their top corners in projected starters Dee Milliner (ankle) and Dimitri Patterson (quadriceps and ankle), as well as rookie Dexter McDougle, who will miss the year with a torn knee ligament.
Allen had two interceptions during Monday’s training-camp workout, prompting Rex Ryan to label him “a baller” and hint the move could be permanent.
But the two-hour tryout looked slightly desperate, and it had both Ryan and GM John Idzik on the defensive about the team’s cornerback situation.
The Jets are scheduled to face Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the first seven games of the season. Ryan defiantly insisted his system will enable Gang Green to survive that imposing gauntlet.
“I never said I need the best cornerback in football,” Ryan said. “My defense works. Period. We take what we have, and then we work around it.”
Idzik rarely speaks to the media but couldn’t avoid the topic Monday, especially considering the Jets have depth issues at crucial positions yet still boast $21.116 million in room under the salary cap, according to NFL Players Association records.
Idzik said — repeating it for emphasis — that he has “no regrets whatsoever” about his moves at cornerback in the offseason. Those moves included letting Antonio Cromartie walk, losing a bidding war to the Giants for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie without much of a fight and, most notably, shrugging off Darrelle Revis’ interest in coming back.
Idzik also reportedly contacted veteran Asante Samuel after Milliner and McDougle got hurt in the same practice Sunday, but Samuel declined because the Jets — despite their copious amounts of cap room — only offered the veteran’s minimum salary.
Asked Monday if he now wishes he had reciprocated Revis’ desire for a reunion, Idzik said: “We’re happy with who we brought to camp.”
Idzik noted the Jets brought 10 cornerbacks to training camp and said the team couldn’t be expected to foresee losing three of them for varying lengths of time before the second preseason game.
Of the three injured corners, only McDougle’s status is clear.
Milliner’s sprained ankle is still too swollen for him to be able to have an MRI exam, although he said Monday that an X-ray showed it was a sprain and not a broken bone.
“They don’t know if it’s a high [ankle sprain] or a low [sprain] yet because of the swelling,” Milliner said.
Milliner seems unlikely to be healthy in time for the Jets’ Week 1 opener against the Raiders, especially after he was preaching caution Monday.
“Oh, you have to be very cautious,” Milliner said. “You don’t want to get out there and rush things and mess it up even more, or get out there at less than 100 percent and give up plays.”
Patterson, meanwhile, hasn’t practiced since the veteran journeyman fared poorly and got hurt in his Jets debut Thursday in a 13-10 preseason win over the Colts.
As a result, in what looked like a snub of young corner Darrin Walls, Ryan chose to move Allen over from safety to play alongside Ellis Lankster and nickel corner Kyle Wilson with the first team in Monday’s practice.
Ryan said Allen’s playmaking as an undersized outside linebacker at South Carolina and his success in coverage at safety against star tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham last season prompted the test.
“When he was in college, the kid made a zillion plays,” Ryan said. “When you looked at the tape [at South Carolina], he might have been the best player on the field.”
Ryan said “we’ll see” when asked if Allen’s switch could end up being full-time.
“To me, it’s not a panic situation,” Ryan said. “It’s an opportunity.”