Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said his words about Dolphins running back Reggie Bush following Sunday’s 23-20 win were misunderstood.
Pace said the Jets had to “put him on out” about Bush, who injured his knee in the second quarter. Pace said he never meant for that to be interpreted as the Jets trying to intentionally knock him out of the game.
“I wasn’t trying to say it as we were trying to hurt him,” Pace said. “I’m sad to see him get hurt. We aren’t running any kind of bounty system or anything like that. Looking at the play, somebody just fell on his knee. It wasn’t anything malicious.”
Pace said what he meant was the Jets defense had to keep hitting Bush to wear him down after he had gained 61 yards on his first 10 carries.
* The Jets re-signed OLB Bryan Thomas, the longest tenured player on the team, yesterday, two days after releasing him. The Jets made the move to clear a roster spot for Sunday’s game. They carried an extra cornerback.
Thomas said he was angry about the move initially but then understood it’s part of the business.
“They said something to me this past Saturday that I would be back,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know. That could have been said or something could have happened where they couldn’t bring me back.”
Thomas, who has not practiced since a Week 1 hamstring injury, said he feels good and expects to play Sunday against the 49ers.
The Jets also re-signed WR Patrick Turner, whom they released Sept. 11. This could be due to rookie WR Stephen Hill suffering a hamstring injury in Sunday’s game. Jets coach Rex Ryan said Hill is “iffy” to play this week.
The team released DL Marcus Dixon, CB Donnie Fletcher and OT Dennis Landolt.
* Ryan is unhappy with his defense.
“Two things are happening right now to our defense that I don’t think I’ve ever gone through a stage like this where we’re struggling to stop the run and struggling to get off on third down,” Ryan said. “Those are two areas that are generally a strength. Right now, we haven’t done a good enough job of that.”
The Jets are 28th in the NFL against the run.
* Ryan did not shoot down the idea of giving backup running backs Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight a few carries early instead of starter Shonn Greene, although he said the coaches have not discussed it. … Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano was given a game ball after Sunday’s win in his return to Miami, where he was head coach from 2008-11.