Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker fight through injuries to lead Jets win

It was evident early that Brandon Marshall, the Jets' go-to guy, was compromised by painful toe and ankle injuries. The wide receiver was struggling to find speed, to get separation. But after catching only three balls for 24 yards, all Marshall did was find an extra gear for an acrobatic 20-yard touchdown catch, recover an onside kick and recover Chris Ivory's fumble in the final 2:41 to secure a 28-23 win over Jacksonville on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

"Brandon had a frustrating game in terms of not getting a lot of balls and comes up with a huge play at the end," Ryan Fitzpatrick said. "He's the guy that gets the onside kick, makes the fumble recovery. I thought that was just a great example of him staying in it and really playing hard in all phases."

Marshall knew as well as anyone that he had plenty of company in that regard. Fitzpatrick was playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb, receiver Eric Decker is fighting a lingering knee injury, guard Willie Colon was inactive because of his knees, and center Nick Mangold went out because of a lingering neck injury.

"In this league, it's can you still make plays banged up?" Marshall said. "The staff did such an amazing job to get me to this point where I could suit up. Once they gave me the green light, I wasn't thinking about how I felt."

When it became clear that Marshall was struggling early, Fitzpatrick focused on Decker, who had six receptions for 79 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown catch that gave the Jets a 7-3 lead.

Decker, too, downplayed all the injuries, saying professionals find ways to play through it. What thrilled him was how the offense responded whenever the Jaguars got close, driving 73 yards to score on Ivory's 1-yard run late in the third quarter for a 21-13 lead and turning a muffed punt into Marshall's TD with 2:41 left for a 28-16 lead.

"That's big," Decker said. "You could easily cave in, especially when [the Jags] score before halftime and get the ball to start the third. For us to answer back on some of those scores is huge. Brandon made a huge play at the end that was crucial, and the defense made a couple big plays that were crucial."

The challenge for the offense was increased by the failure of the running game, which gained only 29 yards on 24 carries by Ivory and Zac Stacy.

"In the four-minute offense, you want to move the chains, run the ball," Decker said. "When you get a yard or two a carry, that makes it very difficult. We need to get Ivory going and get the push up front."

But the Jets did enough to win. As Marshall said, "It's who has the poise to go into the deep water and maintain."

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.