NFL

Jets’ Revis sits with injury, but he says he’s OK

CORTLAND — The sight of Darrelle Revis standing on the sideline with no helmet watching the first-team defense sent shockwaves through yesterday’s practice at Jets training camp.

Revis, the team’s best player and one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, missed the majority of practice with “a little tightness” in his right hamstring that he first felt Saturday. Revis participated in positional drills, but then sat out the team portion of practice.

There was a thought Revis might be staging a mini-protest over his contract after he admitted last week he contemplated a holdout. Revis bristled at that suggestion.

“I knew you were going to bring that up,” Revis said to a reporter. “Come on, now. No, no. It has nothing to do with that. I’m here. If I wasn’t going to be here, I would have held out. That’s not the case.”

Two years ago, Revis sat out during mini-camp saying he had hamstring tightness and lightheadedness. He later admitted to exaggerating the issues to send a message to the front office about his contract, a few months before his 36-day holdout. Revis wound up signing before the season, but pulled his left hamstring in Week 2 while covering the Patriots’ Randy Moss. The injury caused him to miss two games.

Revis said this injury is minor and he believes he will be able to practice today. He was surprised when he showed up yesterday and defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman informed him he would not be practicing.

“We’re just being cautious right now,” Revis said. “I’ll be back next practice. It’s really nothing. It’s just a little tightness, and we’re just trying to make sure we take care of it the best way we can.”

Jets coach Rex Ryan said he is not concerned.

“If we were playing a game then I would have been concerned and he would have played,” Ryan said. “He’s had some hamstring issues in previous training camps. He probably fought through some and then pulled. We don’t want that to happen. It was just a minor thing. I think he thinks he’ll be out there tomorrow. Anytime you get that kind of situation with any player you’re like, ‘Whoa, hit the brakes, let’s not do something foolish.’ ”

Revis said the injury did not occur on a specific play Saturday.

“I just think it’s a process of just getting back into it,” he said. “We ran the conditioning test the day before and we’ve been doing a lot of work. Practice has been a little bit intense this year, and I think that’s because of Coach [offensive coordinator Tony] Sparano coming in, and it’s kind of a fast-pace for the offense now. I think it’s just a bunch of reps we’ve been taking, and my hamstring, we’re just trying to be real cautious with it.”

This injury is the opposite leg from the one Revis injured in 2010, but he did admit that he’s had “a lot of hamstring problems.”

Kyle Wilson worked with the first team in Revis’ absence yesterday, the Jets’ first day in pads since last season.

“Other guys just have to step up,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “We know what Darrelle can do. But when guys’ backups are in, we’re going to try some new things, moving him around and things like that. One thing you have to understand about this league — you have to have tremendous depth … injuries occur, and we can’t take a step back. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you and nobody’s exempt from injuries, so we have to prepare for any one of our guys getting injured, including Darrelle.”