The Jets have not been able to slow down Maurice Jones-Drew in two meetings, but they might get some help from Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio on Sunday.
The superstar running back, who dealt with a torn meniscus in his right knee all last season, has been put on a play count to reduce the risk of injury.
Jones-Drew, who was limited in training camp and did not see game action until the preseason finale, had 97 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries in Jacksonville’s 16-14, season-opening win over the Titans, but was upset with the restrictions, as backup Deji Karim ran for 33 yards on 14 carries.
Del Rio would not say what limits would be placed on Jones-Drew in Week 2, but the two-time Pro Bowl running back has cooled off in the past few days, letting logic outweigh his emotions. Any precautions are no longer a worry, he said, same as his knee.
“It actually feels like when I was eight years old, or maybe when I was born, fresh out of the womb knee,” Jones-Drew said during a conference call yesterday. “When you’re in the middle of the game, tempers flare, emotions are flying. The coaches are doing what’s best for the team. I can’t argue with that at all.”
After scoring two touchdowns against the Jets as a rookie in 2006, Jones-Drew shredded coach Rex Ryan’s defense two seasons ago, running for 123 yards and a touchdown in a 24-22 win in East Rutherford.
“We pride ourselves on being a physical football team and all that, [but] they handed it to us,” Ryan said. “They imposed their will on us. They ran the ball better than we did.”
With the Jets out of timeouts, Jones-Drew could have added another score that day had he not stopped at the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter to keep the clock running and set up an easy game-winning field goal. Since taking over as the lead back in 2009, the 26-year-old — described by Plaxico Burress as, “one of the top three running backs in football” — is second in the NFL in rushing (2,812) and third in touchdowns (24).
“I think he’s the fastest read on-the-go guy,” Jets defensive tackle Sione Pouha told The Post. “He sees an opening, he’ll hit his gap and he’s already five openings ahead of you. I think that’s what makes him so shifty and nifty is because he’s two or three cuts ahead of you. I think that’s what makes him so great.”
Linebacker Jamaal Westerman discussed the difficulty
in bringing the 5-foot-7 pinball down to the ground.
“You
never assume that he’s down,” Westerman said. “With him, you really want to be fundamentally sound with tackling. We really want to make that an emphasis this week to get after him, swarm to the ball.”
—Additional reporting by Brian Lewis
howard.kussoy@nypost.com