It wasn’t enough to slow down Matt Slauson from scoring his first career touchdown, but a left knee injury did keep the Jets starting left guard out of practice on Monday.
In the third quarter of Thursday night’s loss at Denver, Slauson astutely picked up a Bilal Powell fumble for a one-yard touchdown run. But earlier on the game’s third play, Slauson suffered a knee injury that resulted in him coming out of the game. He was fitted for a brace and returned to the field.
“I just got rolled up on, on our first series. It’s been giving me a couple of issues, but I should be back practicing tomorrow as long as everything goes well this afternoon,” Slauson said.
Slauson joined a long contingent of injured Jets as the team returned to practice after a long weekend off. Shonn Greene, Brodney Pool and LaDainian Tomlinson all participated in agility and fitness drills away from the team. Wide receiver Plaxico Burress was not present at practice either, although his absence had nothing to do with a lower back injury that has plagued him for the better part of the past two months.
Head coach Rex Ryan said that his wide receiver missed practice due to personal reasons.
“This was a while ago,” Ryan said of Burress’ request. “He had a personal day today and tomorrow.”
Reports later confirmed that Burress was in Virginia Beach, Va. at an event at his old school.
As for the injured quartet, Ryan was upbeat of their return.
“I think on Sunday, our guys will be ready,” Ryan said.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
