Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan has ruled out receiver Jerricho Cotchery for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders in the Coliseum.
Cotchery has been dragged down by a nagging hamstring injury. He managed to play weeks ago in a Monday night defeat to the Miami Dolphins, but was held out of Sunday's overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills.
"I was hoping," Ryan said. "He was getting better, but at the end we definitely don't want this happening all the time, where each week we're wondering if he is going to be up. We don't want to make it worse.
"If we have a chance to get him 100 percent or near 100 percent, that's probably the best option."
For the second straight week, Braylon Edwards and David Clowney will have to be Mark Sanchez's top targets along with tight end Dustin Keller.
"The thing about the Raiders is they’re not shy about getting in your face and going man coverage," Ryan said. "That’s what we're going to get from them and we'll probably get it 90 percent of the time. It's about winning those one-on-one battles.
"You've got two excellent corners, one super-corner [Nnamdi Asomugha] and another guy that I think is underrated, [Chris] Johnson. It's going to be a big challenge for our guys. I'm confident in those two guys. I think we can win those one-on-one battles. We're going to find out."
Ryan also announced receiver Brad Smith (quadriceps) and right cornerback Lito Sheppard (quadriceps) will not play, but right tackle Damien Woody (knee, foot) and nickelback Donald Strickland (ankle) probably will play.
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan has ruled out receiver Jerricho Cotchery for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders in the Coliseum.
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"I was hoping," Ryan said. "He was getting better, but at the end we definitely don't want this happening all the time, where each week we're wondering if he is going to be up. We don't want to make it worse.
"If we have a chance to get him 100 percent or near 100 percent, that's probably the best option."
For the second straight week, Braylon Edwards and David Clowney will have to be Mark Sanchez's top targets along with tight end Dustin Keller.
"The thing about the Raiders is they’re not shy about getting in your face and going man coverage," Ryan said. "That’s what we're going to get from them and we'll probably get it 90 percent of the time. It's about winning those one-on-one battles.
"You've got two excellent corners, one super-corner [Nnamdi Asomugha] and another guy that I think is underrated, [Chris] Johnson. It's going to be a big challenge for our guys. I'm confident in those two guys. I think we can win those one-on-one battles. We're going to find out."
Ryan also announced receiver Brad Smith (quadriceps) and right cornerback Lito Sheppard (quadriceps) will not play, but right tackle Damien Woody (knee, foot) and nickelback Donald Strickland (ankle) probably will play.
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Tim Graham
Graham joined ESPN.com in 2008 after covering the Miami Dolphins for the Palm Beach Post. He previously spent eight years at the Buffalo News, where he was an award-winning NHL and boxing writer. The Baldwin-Wallace College grad also has worked for the Las Vegas Sun and Boston Herald.