Revis looks forward to matchup

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The game within the Texans-Jets game at New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday will be a good one: Darrelle Revis vs. Andre Johnson.

"It's like Jordan and Bird and Jordan and Magic," Revis said. "It's like we're going to see who falls at the end of the game."

Wait . . . which one is Revis?

"I'm Jordan," he said.

Revis is close to 100 percent healthy, his early-season hamstring problem in the past. He'll have to be to cover Johnson, whom Jets coach Rex Ryan called "a matchup nightmare."

Johnson has caught 52 balls for 781 yards (15.0 average) with four TDs. He has 11 catches of 20 yards or more.

"In my opinion he's the best receiver in football," Ryan said. "It doesn't get any tougher than that. We have the only corner in the league that would dare try to cover this guy in man coverage in Darrelle Revis. He is, in my opinion - and it's not even close - the best corner in football."

Revis shut down Johnson for the most part in last year's season-opening 24-7 Jets win in Houston. Johnson, who finished the season with the most receiving yards in the league (1,569), had four catches for 35 yards in Week 1 last season.

Ryan played a little game of his own Wednesday when he suggested in a conference call with Houston-area reporters that Revis would not always be on Johnson. "Is he going to be manned up every snap?" Ryan said. "No, maybe not. But there are opportunities where he's going to be manned up."

Yeah, opportunities - like pretty much every play, Ryan later admitted. "We know where he's going to be," Ryan said of Revis. "If he's not on him, he'll be on the same side. I was hoping they'd buy it."

Johnson, who signed a contract extension in August that made him the highest-paid receiver in football at $10.5 million per year through 2016, wouldn't expect it to be any other way.

"I think as far as the competition level, it's what's good for the game," Johnson said. "I look forward to playing against him. He's the best cornerback in the game and people say that I'm the best wide receiver, so people look forward to matchups like that."

Texans-Jets isn't exactly the league's premier rivalry, so you'll have to forgive Revis and Johnson if they aren't engaging in any trash-talking. (Maybe that will happen before the Jets face Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco Thanksgiving night.)

Revis and Johnson gave glowing scouting reports on each other.

Johnson on Revis: "He's very 'technique sound' as a defensive back. He's very patient. He can mix it up with you. He can be physical at times. At times he doesn't have to be physical. He has the all-around game. He's great at what he does."

Revis on Johnson: "It's like he's a lion out there trying to chase after his prey. How he runs his routes and how physical he is."

The matchup could be dulled significantly if the Texans are without quarterback Matt Schaub, who spent Tuesday night and Wednesday in the hospital with a bursa sac issue in his knee. But the Texans expect Schaub to start. His backup is Dan Orlovsky.