NFL

Rex set to rest Jets starters vs. Bills

CHICAGO — Already in the playoffs thanks to yesterday’s odd twist of fate, the Jets will play next Sunday’s regular-season finale like a preseason game.

The 10-5 Jets, who are most likely headed to the playoffs as the sixth seed in the AFC, will rest a lot of key players against the Bills, according to coach Rex Ryan.

“We never earned a bye, so this might be a way to get some guys who are banged up a little rest,” Ryan said. “We’ll really look at possibly not playing Mark Sanchez [next] this week.”

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COMPLETE JETS COVERAGE

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The Jets opted to stay in Chicago last night because of the snow storm and planned to try flying back to New Jersey today.

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The Jets yesterday got thinner where they were already dangerously thin — a safety — when James Ihedigbo re-injured his right knee in the third quarter of the game yesterday.

Ihedigbo, who hurt himself covering a punt when Bears returner Devin Hester faked him out with a move, had already been struggling with a knee and ankle injury. He didn’t return.

The Jets safety situation was shaky with Jim Leonhard (season-ending broken leg) and Eric Smith (concussion).

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Sanchez denied reports last week that said he had partially torn cartilage in his sore right shoulder.

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Ryan was incensed punter Steve Weatherford kicked a ball to Bears returner Hester in the third quarter. Hester returned the line drive punt 38 yards and set up the Bears go-ahead touchdown. Before the game, Ryan and the Jets vowed to punt away from Hester, the NFL’s leading returner who has three touchdowns this season.

“That was disappointing to say the least,” Ryan said. “We went in there trying to kick the ball away from that guy. We tried to do it all day and he got his hands on one. Now you can see how important it is to kick the ball away from that kid. He’s the best returner in the game.”

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Jets TE Dustin Keller dropped a sure touchdown pass at the end of the first half, a play that could have cost the Jets the game. He insisted afterward, though, that he wasn’t dwelling on it.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned this year is to let things go and move onto the next thing,” Keller said. “It’s a play I can’t go back to and can’t do anything about now. It’s over with.”

Keller ran a post in the middle of the end zone and Sanchez put the ball right in his hands and as he fell to the ground he lost control of it.

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When Dwight Lowery, making his second career start at safety for the Jets, picked off Bears QB Jay Cutler and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown in the first half, it was Lowery’s second interception returned for a touchdown this season and it was only the Jets eighth interception of the season.

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Jets WR Santonio Holmes told CBS’ Phil Simms during the week that he never wears long sleeves even in the coldest weather games because he once fumbled at Ohio State while wearing them and he vowed never to wear them again.

Holmes, who said he usually puts some oil on his arms to keep them warm, played in short sleeves yesterday and lost a fumble on an end-around run in the first quarter.

It led to the Bears first TD of the game.

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When Jets RB LaDainian Tomlinson scored his 3-yard TD in the second quarter it was his sixth touchdown of the season and first in the last nine games. . . . When Bears kicker Robbie Gould missed a 35-yard field goal attempt wide right in the fourth quarter it ended a streak of 64 consecutive successful field goals inside of 40 yards without a miss, including 38 in a row at home. . . . Earlier in the game, Jets DT Mike DeVito partially blocked a 37-yard Gould field goal that went through anyway.

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When Jets OL Robert Turner was called for a false start penalty in the first half, it was the Jets’ 100th penalty of the season, 35 more than their opponents. . . . Former Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, now with the Cardinals, took a shot at former Jet teammate, LB Bart Scott, tweeting late in the Jets loss to the Bears, “Has Bart Scott done anything?”