Nick Folk's season over as Jets place kicker on injured reserve

Nick Folk's season is over.

The Jets placed the kicker on injured reserve on Tuesday and signed former Texan Randy Bullock to the active roster. Houston cut Bullock after he missed two extra-point attempts in the Texans' first three games of this season.

Folk, who felt "a little pop" in his right quadriceps during pregame warmups Sunday, initially was expected to miss four to six weeks. But coach Todd Bowles said team doctors told him Folk would be out at least eight weeks, so IR was inevitable. "It's not a [quad] tear, but [the injury] is pretty significant," Bowles said.

Folk, 31, converted 13 of 16 field-goal attempts and all 19 extra-point tries this season.

Bullock converted 61 of 76 field-goal tries (80.3 percent) and 69 of 71 PATs (97.2 percent) for the Texans.

Cro unlikely to play

How optimistic is Bowles that Antonio Cromartie (deep thigh bruise) will play Thursday against the Bills? "Not very," the coach said of the cornerback, who didn't practice. "He didn't look good today." Bowles also said Cromartie had an MRI and his left thigh "swelled up pretty good, but we're treating it and trying to get it down."

Jets streamsNick Mangold (neck) practiced fully and is expected to play. Bowles, however, is pessimistic about Willie Colon (knee). Colon, Dion Bailey, Calvin Pryor (ankles) and Jeremy Kerley (illness) did not practice. Buster Skrine (hand/shoulder) and Bilal Powell (ankle) were limited. With injuries mounting in the secondary, the plan is to bring up practice-squad safety Ronald Martin, Bowles said.

Longtime staffer dies

Longtime equipment manager Bill Hampton, 86, has died, the team announced. The Astoria native was a stick boy for the New York Rangers in 1945 before joining the Jets in 1964. He retired after the 2000 season. He and his wife, Dottie, designed the first pockets to be stitched onto a football jersey, sewing pockets on the jersey fronts of Joe Namath and other players.