Eric Decker is still a big question mark heading into the Monday night game.
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Jets wide receiver Eric Decker missed practice Thursday as he continues to rehab a hamstring injury suffered last Sunday.
Decker has been the biggest piece in the Jets’ offense to start this season, stepping into the No. 1 role at wide receiver. Without him, a Jets passing offense that is currently fourth-worst in the league could be a whole lot worse.
It appears as though Decker will be out Monday, but head coach Rex Ryan was unwilling to rule him out officially.
“He’s a veteran player and things but obviously you’d like to have him test it a litte bit. So, I’m not going to say he has to be out on [the practice field] Saturday,” Ryan said. “But I’d like to see him do some things — mainly for his own mentality, his own mindset.”
Decker wouldn’t stick his neck out on Wednesday about the possibility of playing. He did not speak with the media on Thursday.
Cornerback Dee Milliner continues to suffer from a high-ankle sprain which caused him to miss much of the preseason. He returned last week but struggled in coverage.
“It’s a high ankle [sprain]. It never looked 100 percent,” Ryan said. “But it looked OK.”
Jets notes …
→ Center Nick Mangold (shoulder) and running back Chris Johnson (ankle) were limited in practice on Thursday.
“I think both guys will be fine,” Ryan said of Mangold and Johnson,
Right guard Willie Colon, who was also limited, should be good to play as the calf injury has been nagging him for a couple weeks.
→ There was good news for the depth of the secondary as safety Josh Bush (quad) was a full participant in practice. There was some bad news as linebacker and special teams maven Nick Bellore, who has a hip injury, was held out.
A big topic Thursday at the team’s facility was the current state of the NFL, given its recent scandals. When asked about it, head coach Rex Ryan wasn’t dismissive of the issue, but he wasn’t going to paint the league as suddenly running wild.
“How different is it from 15 years ago? I’m not sure it was a whole lot different,” Ryan said. “It’s out there front and center now, some of these issues.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
