Holmes sidelined by hamstring injury

Santonio Holmes was limited in Tuesday's first minicamp practice due to a hamstring injury.

The Jets training staff monitored the wide receiver, who stretched with team and later did light running and agility drills in the corner with other injured players, including fellow wideouts Stephen Hill (hamstring) and DaMarcus Ganaway (hip).

Holmes took himself out of the final organized team activity on Thursday, and later told reporters he thought he was getting too many reps. The wideout, who limped off the field after 20-25 reps, threw his helmet down in what appeared to be frustration.

But when asked after practice ff he was injured, Holmes told reporters no.

Rex Ryan, however, confirmed the injury.

He just knew it was tight," said the head coach. "Like I mentioned before, veteran players know their bodies better than anybody. And when they sense, 'Hey, I'm tight, I'm getting ready to pull,' it's obviously better to pull yourself out of the drill than to go ahead and sustain an injury. And I think that's where Santonio Holmes was last week. And when it came to me about that, we knew why he was pulling himself out of the drill."

Holmes declined to speak to reporters today.

But even though the wide receiver missed an entire week ofOTAs due to his goodwill trip to Germany and wasn’t able to participate in team drills on the first day of minicamp, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said he isn’t worried about Holmes picking up the new system.

Sparano said the wideout has done an “outstanding job” in his mental preparation and has “zero concern” about Holmes picking things up. The offensive coordinator also praised Holmes' communication and his tutelage of the young receivers.

Though Ryan said he probably pushed Holmes and the entire receiving corps too hard in the weight room and on the field, Sparano downplayed last week's incident involving Holmes. "I don't think there was any kind of miscommunication or any of those things," the coordinator said, adding that the all of the coaches were on the same page. "I don't get involved in 'he said, she said.' The one thing you will know, and my players know: I know exactly how many reps every player has taken, period."

Despite not having several key weapons on the practice field today, the offensive coordinator offered a silver lining in the recent rash of wide receiver injuries: it forces the tight ends to play several positions and it also gives the coaching staff time to evaluate younger players.

Sparano said WR Dexter Jackson has taken 180 reps already due to the injuries among the receiving corps.

“Those are valuable snaps,” said the coordinator.