MIAMI — The Jets defense looked as if it had no answer for Dolphins running back Reggie Bush early in yesterday’s game. Well, maybe the Jets did have one answer.
Bush left the Jets’ eventual 23-20 overtime victory in the second quarter with a knee injury after gaining 61 yards on his first 10 carries. Jets linebacker Calvin Pace intimated that injury was no accident.
“Reggie, I guess he was doing his thing for a quarter or two,” Pace said. “We had to put him on out. We didn’t see him again.”
Pace could face a fine once the league hears that comment, especially in light of the Saints’ Bountygate scandal.
* Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano did not speak to reporters after the game, but a few players said they could tell how meaningful this win was to him in his return to Miami. Sparano was the Dolphins head coach for the last four years, before getting fired midway through last season.
“We did it for Coach Sparano,” wide receiver Santonio Holmes said.
* WR Jeremy Kerley’s performance could get lost in light of Holmes’ monster day. Kerley had two huge catches, one a 7-yard go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The other was a 66-yard reception that seemed to revive the Jets’ offense and led to a field goal.
“He’s a dependable guy that doesn’t shy away from wanting the ball in situations like that,” Mark Sanchez said. “That’s a playmaker that can take it. In the fourth quarter with the game on the line, he wants the ball.”
* Rookie WR Stephen Hill was held without a catch for the second straight week despite seven targets. He injured his right hamstring late in the game, but said he does not think he will need to undergo tests and is hopeful he can practice this week. Hill had hamstring issues in the spring and in training camp.
* Holmes has made long receptions on the game-winning drives of the Jets’ last three overtime games. The first two came in November 2010, when he caught a 37-yard touchdown pass against the Browns to win the game and a 52-yard catch against the Lions to set up another game-winning field goal from Nick Folk. … Sanchez now has 10 comeback wins in the fourth quarter or overtime.
* Former Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson had some harsh words for Holmes before the game.
“He hasn’t changed,” Tomlinson said on NFL Network’s “First on the Field.” “The only thing about it is a new year brings new hope; we all know that as players. But as a player, the one thing you know when you play with a guy that has quit on you, you know that when the times get tough he will quit on you again. That’s one thing I do know. That’s what I expect as the season goes along.”
Holmes did not quit yesterday.