Groin injury will keep Cotchery out vs. Texans

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Jerricho Cotchery has a really good excuse, an extremely valid reason why he hasn't already caught a glimpse of his sensational reception in Sunday's win over the Browns.

"I spent a lot of time in the training room, wasn't able to watch any of my highlights this week," the wide receiver said Friday. "Everyone was asking me about that. I haven't been able to see any of those."

Unfortunately for Cotchery, he won't be making any highlight-reel plays Sunday when the Jets play the Texans at New Meadowlands Stadium. Cotchery, still nursing a slight groin tear, officially has been ruled out.

The Jets took the precautionary route, opting to elevate wideout Patrick Turner from the practice squad and keep Cotchery sidelined for at least this week. But he's aiming for a Thanksgiving night return against the Bengals, something that doesn't seem far-fetched given the significant progress he has made in a matter of five days.

"If we were playing in the Super Bowl, he'd be playing," coach Rex Ryan said. "But we have more games to play this year and we've got to make sure that we are doing the right things by him and for ourselves.''

Said Cotchery: "It was the right thing to do. I worked as hard as I could this week to give myself a chance to play in this game, but I didn't make enough progress before this game. I wasn't able to do enough stuff on the field and you have a game plan, as well, so you need to be in there getting reps.

"So it was very wise. But I'm just going to continue to work to get my groin better and hopefully have a chance at playing next week.''

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Of course, that doesn't mean the competitive Cotchery didn't have to be convinced to take a seat. He actually practiced briefly Friday and felt much better than he had all week.

Cotchery has been getting tons of treatment on his groin - everything from rubdowns and muscle stimulation to jogging on an underwater treadmill.

He actually was able to do some running during practice Friday, though it didn't involve any cutting, and was pleased with the way he felt afterward.

"Today was another huge step toward making it back on the field," Cotchery said. "There's no pain."

Cotchery, injured seconds before making an incredibly gutsy 10-yard reception on third-and-9 from the Jets' 37 in overtime, was forced to sit out two games last season after attempting a quick return from a hamstring injury suffered in practice. Rather than waiting for it to fully heal, he elected to play against the Dolphins days later and ultimately paid the price by reinjuring it.

"I wasn't smart last year with the hammy," he said. "You've just got to move yourself out of the way, and that's what we tried to do this time around. The coaches stepped in. Last year, I felt good about the hammy and just kind of rushed out on the field too early before my time, and ended up missing a couple of games after that when it could've been just one. So we were smart with it this time around."

Then Cotchery caught himself.

"Well," he said, "they were smart with it."