CINCINNATI — The Jets played some flag football in Saturday night’s 25-17 preseason victory over the Bengals.
The Jets drew 12 penalties for 133 yards in the game. Seven of those penalties were personal fouls that cost them 15 yards apiece, with one declined.
After the game, several Jets said the game was a bit chippy because they still were smarting from last year’s 49-9 regular-season loss to the Bengals.
“We got embarrassed the last time we were here,” said guard Willie Colon, who had two penalties. “There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. They beat us up. We looked at that tape. That wasn’t the Jets team we want to be. They’re a playoff-contending team. We’re trying to make that next step.”
Colon and tackle Breno Giacomini were hit with personal fouls after Geno Smith threw an interception. Giacomini hit cornerback Terence Newman, who had picked off the ball, and then Bengals defensive end Margus Hunt drilled him from behind. That got Colon fired up. He ran over to defend Giacomini and the two teams started fighting.
“The main thing was our guys were protecting each other,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “Sometimes we’ve got to look at them, did we cross the line a little bit? We’ll certainly look at it and address it. We want to be as physical a football team as we can be within the rules. Again, we’re not here to take anything from anybody. If a teammate’s at risk, we’re not going to take that.”
The Jets were without several key offensive players in the game.
Wide receiver Eric Decker, running back Chris Ivory and tight end Jeff Cumberland were all held out of the game with injuries. Decker is nursing a quad injury that has kept him out of practice. He met with general manager John Idzik, a team doctor and the head trainer on the field about 90 minutes before kickoff, and it appeared they told him he would not be playing.
Ivory injured his ribs against the Colts last week and has been limited in practice. Cumberland left practice Tuesday with tightness in his left Achilles tendon.
Ryan did little to clarify what is going on with rookie WR Jalen Saunders. The Jets said Saunders had a car accident on Friday and was hospitalized for observation. But Florham Park, N.J., police told NJ.com that Saunders had a “medical incident” and there was no accident. Ryan said Saunders remained in the hospital on Saturday night, but would say nothing further.
Oday Aboushi got the start at left guard. It was somewhat surprising because Brian Winters played well in the first preseason game against the Colts, but the Jets clearly want to see more from the competition for the starting job.
Rookie LB IK Emenkpali blocked a punt for a safety in the fourth quarter. It is the second straight week Enemkpali, a sixth-round pick, made a big play. He had a strip-sack against the Colts.