Pace's Boot Set to Come Off; Return Still Unknown...

Calvin Pace said he feels no pain, but walking and running are too different things.

The linebacker, who suffered a broken right foot in the second half of the Jets’ preseason game against the Redskins, is expected to walk without his protective boot starting Thursday. The next step is jogging, said Pace, was given a 4-6 week recovery timeframe following his Aug. 30 surgery.

When asked if he could be jogging by week’s end, Pace -- who has a screw in his foot -- sighed heavily and said “Hypothetically yeah. ...It’s typical when you have an injury, you kind of sometimes want to favor it. You want to stay off that leg. But thus far, no pain, other than the day of the surgery. Everything’s going as planned. ...I have to be patient.”

Pace said being sidelined with an injury has been more difficult to deal with than serving his four-game suspension last season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing supplements. Why? Because at least he knew when he’d be back. "Now, it's just a matter of my body. When my foot tells me, 'OK, it's cool for you to go back out.' And it's tough not to have a definitive date. I wish this week, but that's not realistic. I wish I could give you a date. The doctors couldn't give me a date, either. It's just kind of a waiting game."

“I’m not a fan of sitting in a box and watching,” he added, referring to Monday night’s loss to the Ravens. “The guys played great. They had some things that can be worked on, but I think they had a great game defensively. I would love to be out there. It’s a helpless feeling watching your guys go to war and you can’t do too much except cheer.”

Like Pace, Brodney Pool (ankle) is having a hard time being a spectator as well. The safety was limited in practice today and said it’s still too early to tell if he’ll be able to play against the Patriots.

“I don’t like watching,” Pool said with a smile. “That’s the hardest thing.”