CORTLAND — The Jets’ cornerback situation took just a half-hour to escalate from a concern to an epidemic, when promising rookie Dexter McDougle suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee, then starter Dee Milliner went down with a high left ankle sprain and will likely miss a few weeks.
Putting no weight on the left ankle, Milliner was helped off the field and guided right past a watchful — and presumably worried — GM John Idzik.
It’s a tough blow for Gang Green, which — with starter Dimitri Patterson nursing quad and ankle injuries — is now missing three of its top four corners. Ellis Lankster and Darrin Walls finished practice with the starters.
“Who plays in their place? I’ve got to find out who’s still out there,’’ Ryan said. “If Dimitri’s not out there, that could change.’’
After cutting Antonio Cromartie, missing out on Vontae Davis and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and passing on Darrelle Revis, Gang Green were planning on relying on Milliner as its No. 1 corner. Demario Davis said earlier “I’ve been calling him Franchise…The better he plays the better our defense’ll be. He’s the key link.’’
Idzik and the Jets can only hope Milliner returns quickly, because McDougle clearly won’t.
“Thank you everyone who has sent me your support and prayers. This is a tough blow but I promise, I will be back better than ever. #GodSpeed,’’ McDougle tweeted.
Milliner — who recently called himself the NFL’s best corner — got hurt vying with wide reciever Quincy Enunwa on a long Geno Smith pass in 7-on-7 drills. They tumbled to the ground, with Milliner immediately clutching at his left ankle.
“I made the play and got up and I saw that he was down. I don’t know how it happened, though,’’ said Enunwa. “He might’ve run into me or something. … But I honestly don’t know what happened.’’
The SUNY-Cortland crowd went quiet as two trainers rushed to tend to Milliner, the injury taking the air out of practice.
“Dee been playing great for us, he had a pretty good first preseason game, and I think he was going to continue to build off that,’’ said rookie safety Calvin Pryor. “To see him go down just hurt.’’
A half-hour before Milliner’s injury, McDougle had gotten his cleat caught while defending Stephen Hill on a fade route in one-on-one goal line drill. McDougle yelled out, and was down for some time being worked on by training staff with Ryan nearby, until he walked off under his own power.
“I never asked him [anything]; I was just sitting there listening and was there for him,’’ said Ryan. “He felt a sharp pain and that was it. He was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding,’ all of that type of stuff, as everybody is. I was encouraged a little bit, but then when you realize when a guy does walk off, that’s not necessarily a true indicator.’’
It’s a particularly tough break for McDougle, who missed the last nine games of his collegiate career at Maryland when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last year against UConn.
The Jets invested a third-round pick in him, and after surgery and rehab, Ryan said McDougle came to camp overweight, but he acquitted himself well and was likely to see significant playing time. With Patterson out, he worked with the starters Saturday and Sunday.
Patterson, who struggled in Thursday’s preseason opener, missed practice Saturday and Sunday with nagging injuries. He insisted they “weren’t serious” and is hopeful of a fairly quick return, for both himself and Milliner.
“You’ve got grown men out here going 100 mph,’’ Patterson said. “It’s a train wreck waiting to happen.’’