The Turk looms

This is one of those days many players dread, hoping they don't get that tap on the shoulder or that phone call from someone in the team's hierarchy.

NFL rosters must be down to 53 players by tomorrow, and many teams aren't waiting to inform some that they've gotten the axe, preferring to go ahead and do the dirty work now. The Jets are apparently in that same boat.

They've begun shaving their roster down and some obvious names are beginning to trickle out, players that really had no shot at making the final cut anyway. One player who might've helped his cause in last night's 21-17 preseason finale win over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field is DL Matt Kroul.

Kroul had a team-high six tackles, a pair of sacks and a quarterback hit, catching Rex Ryan's eye.

"I thought Matt Kroul played pretty well," Ryan said after the game. "That's the first guy that jumps out at me."

Posting those sacks, including one on Michael Vick, with a potential roster spot up the air certainly isn't going to hurt the second-year lineman's chances.

"Production means a lot, but you take what you can get," Krouhl said. "I think the one was just [Michael] Vick running out and I was just trying to get him out of bounds. The next one, I just shot the gap and I was right there."

Kroul thinks his ability to move around along the line will only help.

"I can be a backup at every position," he said. "I think I can play the one, the three and the five [technique]. So versatility is my main thing and hopefully I can jump in."

That's the same way the Jets feel about WR/RB Danny Woodhead. The fan favorite had another solid performance, finishing second on the team in rushing behind Chauncey Washington with 45 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Ryan basically said Woodhead was on the roster, but the 5-9, 200-pound scatback wasn't about to start celebrating until he heard it directly from the horse's mouth.

"The head coach has showed some confidence in me and when that happens, that is always a good thing," Woodhead said. "Decisions will be made and that is not under my control right now. I am a player and not a decision maker and that's the way it is. I think God has a plan for me and my life, and if it is meant for me to be a Jet, it will happen."