Jets lose safety Jim Leonhard for season

Until recently, Rex Ryan was reluctant to allow Jim Leonhard to return punts, fearful that he'd lose one of his most valuable defenders to an injury on special teams.

But the Jets safety got seriously hurt anyway -- and it happened on defense.

Leonhard tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in Sunday's 37-10 win over the Chiefs. He was placed on injured reserve Monday, a devastating blow for the Jets' defense.

The injury came exactly a year and a week after Leonhard suffered a season-ending broken right tibia in practice three days before a 45-3 loss to the Patriots.

"That's the way the game is," Ryan said Monday. "Unfortunately, injuries are a part of this game and you can't control it. You think you have some kind of control, but things like that are freak things. He just makes a good play, the young man tries to make a tackle on him and just tears a patellar tendon. I mean, it's just really unfortunate."

Leonhard, who will be replaced by Brodney Pool, got hurt in the second quarter almost immediately after intercepting Tyler Palko at the Chiefs' 38-yard line. Wideout Steve Breaston, who was on the ground behind him, awkwardly twisted Leonhard's right leg while bringing him down.

Leonhard limped off with the help of two people. He banged the cart in frustration as he was driven to the locker room, likely aware of the injury's severity.

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"It's something that you feel absolutely terrible for him, knowing how he overcame that last injury and what that meant," said Ryan, who added that general manager Mike Tannenbaum will scour the league to add a player for depth.

"This team means everything to Jim and his leadership is going to be missed, without question. He's one of the guys that elevates players around him. Everybody respects Jim.''

Antonio Cromartie agreed. Leonhard is essentially the quarterback of the defense and perhaps as fully versed in the scheme as anyone, given that he played in the system under Ryan in Baltimore before following him here in 2009.

"It's hard," Cromartie said, "not having a guy like Jimmy who has been the general of our defense, a guy that knows where everybody is supposed to be, a guy that's a great leader. Just losing him, period, is hard."

Leonhard thanked everyone for their support. "We've been here before and came back stronger than ever," he wrote on his verified Twitter page. "Things happen for a reason, I'll find it.''

Ryan believes Pool can fill the void, as he did last year. Pool started 12 games then, including the final five regular-season games after Leonhard got hurt. Still, the injury creates a problem in a certain scheme.

"We do so much with three safeties and all that,'' Ryan said. "I think that's going to be missed more than anything else."

Leonhard, 29, is in the final season of a three-year, $5.8-million deal. After his consecutive season-ending injuries, the Jets have a tough decision to make about his future with the team.

"There's a business side of football,'' Ryan said, "but we know Jimmy is a tremendous player. I know he is the hardest-working guy around. So this is a setback, but this is not going to be the end for Jim Leonhard.

"I don't think Jim Leonhard's done playing."