Since his return from his four-game league suspension, Santonio Holmes has been the Jets' No. 3 receiver. And the former Super Bowl MVP for the Steelers said he didn't expect anything different.
"Right now, I don’t expect anything to be given to me," Holmes said. "I'm going to work for it, to become a starter, and if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I'm going to be satisfied with us going to the Super Bowl and winning again."
Holmes, acquired by the Jets in an April trade, missed the first four games for violationing the league's substance-abuse policy. In each of the two games since his return, he's played between 40 to 45 percent of the snaps, by an unofficial count -- slightly more than half of the plays fellow receivers Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery are getting.
Holmes admitted that it's "definitely a big adjustment" after three full seasons of starting for the Steelers. His goal is to do the same here, but he added that is not his main focus.
"I definitely want to be a starter," Holmes. "I play this game deeply; I put in too much time to not be a starter. But is that my focus right now? No. Because that’s definitely going to bring our team down if I'm running around talking to the coaches or talking behind guys' backs that I want to be a starter or I need to be a starter or I deserve it."
Coach Rex Ryan said he expects Holmes to get "a few more opportunities this week." But Holmes said he didn't know and is "going with the flow." He admitted he has made some mistakes in limited time in a new system.
"Look at the plays that I've run wrong routes; that I've done some of the things that a first-year guy does," Holmes said. "Being in this system is going to take time, and I'm willing to take time to prepare myself."
He's also embracing Ryan's mantra to do your job well, whatever your job is. Since he's often used on third downs, he recognizes the potential for big plays. He also sees potential to be a leader for his teammates, since he has been to a Super Bowl and won it, and helps his teammates from the sidelines.
"You have to sit back and realize," Holmes said. "My job right now, and I think a lot of the receivers know, that my job right now is to be those guys' second eyes, a second pair of eyes on the sideline. When they come to the sideline, I talk to them, tell them what they did wrong in that particular play or if the quarterback was off. The things that we don't see as receivers on the field ... I'm being those second eyes for those guys, and I think I'm playing the role pretty good right now."
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Ryan said DT Jarron Gilbert was a player the Jets really liked in the 2009 draft, so much that Ryan worked Gilbert out himself. But the Jets traded up to get Shonn Greene in the third round, and the Bears took Gilbert three picks later.
Ryan said what they liked about Gilbert was that he was a big athletic guy for his size, but Chicago asked him to drop more than 30 pounds off his 293-pound frame. The Jets are having him add the weight back on and be schooled by Shaun Ellis and Trevor Pryce.
"He's doing well; he's earned it," Ryan said of Gilbert's elevation to the active roster. "He really works hard on the scout-team looks."
Since the Packers are such a pass-heavy team, the Jets might not need an extra defensive tackle active this week. Against the similarly pass-friendly Broncos, Pryce played more snaps than usual, and both Howard Green and Marcus Dixon were inactive.
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For the Packers, WR Donald Driver (quad) and DL Ryan Pickett (ankle) did not practice. T Chad Clifton (knee), S Nick Collins (knee), DE Cullen Jenkins (calf), T Mark Tauscher (shoulder) and CB Charles Woodson (toe) were limited. OL Marshall Newhouse (back) practiced fully.
