Plaxico ready for his preseason debut

Santonio Holmes has the same anticipation as everyone else, glad he finally will be able to see the final member of the cast of "The Flight Men" rolling down the runway and taking off into the stratosphere Sunday night.

After getting through his first week of practice without any setbacks, showing no ill effects from his left ankle injury that kept him in limbo for the better part of two weeks, Plaxico Burress takes the next step in his comeback. The 34-year-old wide receiver makes his preseason debut when the Jets host the Bengals at New Meadowlands Stadium, something that gives an otherwise humdrum preseason game a bit of intrigue.

"It's going to be fun," Holmes said. "I know his juices are going to be flowing and he's going to be very excited about what we have in the making as a group, and to be part of a team again and to feel cared about. So I'm sure that emotions are going to be rolling, but he's a football player and he's going to be eager to get out there."

Burress hasn't played in a game since 2008, forced to sit out for two seasons while serving his prison sentence for a weapons violation. But the Jets' plan isn't to toss him on the field for a few plays. Rex Ryan wants to have his starters play into the second quarter, and that includes the 6-5 wideout who managed to string together three consecutive extended practices leading up to Sunday night's matchup.

"I think we'll leave him in there, let him play a bunch," Ryan said. "I think we know what we have, but absolutely you want to see him out there. It'd be great to see him going against another team. That'll be great."

For Mark Sanchez, Sunday night represents the quarterback's first true opportunity to go on a test drive with his top two outside targets, pairing them with the likes of tight end Dustin Keller and veteran running back LaDainian Tomlinson. With all the time Burress has missed during the preseason, it's imperative that Sanchez and Burress take advantage of every moment they have on the field together.

"Having him back, we want to get him involved as soon as we can," Sanchez said, "see how he plays, see how he feels with some full-speed action and understand that it's just preseason, so not to run him into the ground and make sure that we're complementing him with plenty of Derrick Mason and Dustin, and L.T. . . . all of our guys, Santonio, getting everybody rolling.

"Establishing our tempo was important last game , getting off to a good start with completions. That's the same goal."

Ultimately, there's another: becoming the No. 1 offense.

"I think we can be the top offense in the league, honestly," Tomlinson said. "But with that said, we still have a long way to go. With the additions we have added and guys finding their roles and the different things is going to use us in, the things he's going to do with us, different personnels we are going to use, it's going to take a little time for us to get to where we want to go, being the No. 1 offense in the league.

"But I think we definitely have that potential."

Fans will get to see some of that potential Sunday night, not long after Burress gets his first glimpse at the $1.6-billion edifice that'll soon be renamed MetLife Stadium.

"I haven't seen it, but I have heard it's absolutely fabulous," Burress said. "I am looking forward to going and seeing all the amenities if you will, different things like that. I hear it is just a little bit better than Giants Stadium -- just a little bit.

"But I heard it's pretty good and I am looking forward to it."