When New York Jets superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis injured his ACL against the Miami Dolphins, head coach Rex Ryan was reluctant to place him on injured reserve, in the hopes that he could return in case the team made the Super Bowl.
Fortunately for Jets fans, Ryan fell back to earth on Friday, placing the cornerback on season-ending injured reserve a week before Revis will have surgery.
"I know I had said before about Darrelle that I'd like to wait for him to have surgery before we placed him on IR or not," Ryan said Friday. "Unfortunately with that time situation, you've had Eric Smith being out this week, we're going to need that roster spot."
Following two straight losses and a close overtime win against the Dolphins, the Jets sure don't look like a Super Bowl team. The Jets have lost three of four games and have struggled on offense under the leadership of quarterback Mark Sanchez.
"When I said it was a 0.002 percent chance? Well, it's not that high," Ryan said. " ... I was holding out hope but the more information we got, I realized that wouldn't be good for Darrelle, either."
So far the acquisition of Tim Tebow has been a disappointment and the offense ranks near the bottom of the NFL. The team is gaining only 83 rushing yards per game and ranked 28th in passing offense.
The team has also been dealing with the loss of wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who was lost to a season-ending foot injury.
Revis was hurt in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins as he was trying to track down running back Daniel Thomas for a tackle. He was making a cut with his left knee when it occurred; it was a non-contact injury.
"There's no way he's going to really come back and really be able to play," Ryan said.
Revis is considered to be the best player on the Jets and one of the most elite defensive players in the NFL.
"We're fortunate because most teams only have one No. 1 corner and some don't have any," Ryan said to CBSSports.com at the time. "We're fortunate because we have the best in the league in Darrelle and we have a No. 1 corner in [Antonio] Cromartie. We drafted Kyle [Wilson] to be a No. 2."
He was drafted 14th overall by the Jets in 2007 NFL draft and quickly made an impact on the league, totaling three interceptions his first season. He made his first Pro Bowl in 2008 and has made it each year since then. He was also named to the All-Pro team three straight years from 2009-11.
In 2009 he won the AFC Defensive Player of the Year and had seven interceptions. The following season, unhappy with his contract, he held out of the preseason and later signed a four-year, $46 million contract with $32 million guaranteed. He will be 28-yars-old when he returns from the injury.
On the season, Revis has 11 tackles, 2 passes defended and one interception as well as a fumble recovery.
"That injury, as everybody assumed, would take more time than the season to come back from," said Ryan to the Daily News. "The more I really paid attention to the doctors and (trainer) John Mellody, I think the decision was pretty obvious."
To fill Revis' roster spot this week, the Jets signed rookie defensive back Antonio Allen, who was drafted by the team in the seventh round of the draft.
The team is also planning to use running back Joe McKnight in a cornerback role to help with depth.