Santonio Holmes ruled out

New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

New York Jets No. 1 WR Santonio Holmes hasn’t played since Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans due to a hamstring injury, and he was never expected to return this week and play against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Darryl Slater reports that the Jets have officially ruled Holmes out for this week’s game, and it would have been a surprise to see the slow-healing wide receiver out there on Sunday. It’s going to be the Jeremy Kerley show again this week, and he looks more like a No. 1 receiver than Holmes at this stage. Holmes is obviously the more talented player, but Kerley is clearly the more dependable wide receiver; dependability is of the utmost importance with a rookie quarterback under center.

Santonio Holmes could even miss next week’s game against the New Orleans Saints with his nagging hamstring injury, but that’s still cloudy due to Holmes’s explanation of a pretty interesting quote. If he doesn’t play next week against the Saints, then that would give him an extra week to heal up through the bye week, as the Jets have their bye in Week 10 before facing the Buffalo Bills in Week 11.

The Jets listed star center Nick Mangold as questionable on the injury report, but head coach Rex Ryan stated that Mangold is “fine”. It would be a huge surprise to see Mangold missing on Sunday, and he is especially important against a Bengals elite defensive line that features elite 4-3 DT Geno Atkins, who made mincemeat out of the rival New England Patriots interior OL in Week 5.

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