Jets tailback Shonn Greene walks off the field injured Thursday night. He doesn't return, despite X-rays being negative.
DENVER - The misadventure of third-string tailback Bilal Powell began on a straight-forward rush to the goal line late in the third quarter of his first NFL appearance Thursday night.
Powell took a handoff from quarterback Mark Sanchez. Powell was stood up by the Denver Broncos’ defensive line, but the ball slipped from his hands and landed in the end zone. Fortune, in the person of Jets left guard Matt Slauson, fell on the football for a touchdown.
Powell, active only because LaDainian Tomlinson was out with a knee injury, saw extended action after starting tailback, Shonn Greene, the face of coach Rex Ryan’s ground-and-pound approach, was shelved with a rib injury.
Greene was injured after catching a screen pass and running four yards. He grimaced as he hit the ground, but walked off under his power. He was examined by the training staff on the bench, then taken to the locker room. He never returned, finishing with three rushes for 10 yards.
“I felt alright, but Joe and Bilal were going good,” said Greene, who underwent X-rays that came back negative.
Powell and Joe McKnight, meanwhile, combined for two fumbles, one lost on offense, the other on special teams.
They combined for 70 rushing yards, not good enough for an offense reliant on the run.
McKnight (160 all-purpose yards) took a screen pass 14 yards for a first down with just more than 10 minutes remaining . The play helped set up Nick Folk’s 45-yard field goal to give the Jets a 13-10 lead.
“We came in wanting to run the ball on them and did,” said right guard Brandon Moore. “We just didn’t sustain enough of the drives.”
It was not the first time a rib injury forced Greene, now in his third season, from a game. As a rookie, he hurt his ribs in the 2009 AFC Championship Game against the Colts and never returned to the game.
Tomlinson, sidelined by a sprained knee he suffered during Sunday night’s loss to the Patriots, did not travel with the Jets to Denver. The Jets next play against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 27.
Greene, who started the season slowly, had found rhythm in recent games, rushing for a season-high 112 yards against the Chargers and another 83 yards last week against the Patriots.
“We wanted to get back on track,” Greene said. “The season’s not over.”
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