It has been exactly a year since Jets safety Jim Leonhard broke his leg in practice. It was just before the Jets were set to head to the Patriots, and the injury was gruesome.

“One of those injuries, if you were close to it you heard it happen,” fellow safety Eric Smith said. “And to see him laying there in pain it made you sick to your stomach to see him laying there.”

Jets coach Rex Ryan was unusually somber when he arrived at the podium for a press conference after that practice. Leonhard had been with him since he was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, and that feeling ricocheted though the team.

“It was tough especially before the New England game to have a player that does as much as he does as far as getting guys set and making sure they’re in the right spot,” tight end Dustin Keller said. “And just his knowledge of the game you can’t coach that certainly not in a few days like we had. We definitely missed him, and just for him to stay healthy this year has been huge for us.”

Leonhard is very matter-of fact when talking about it now. He is grateful that the injury wasn’t to his head, and it wasn’t career ending. His right tibia has healed and he has been back in the field in his role since the season began.

“It’s frustrating how it happened,” Leonhard said. “It happened in a practice and to miss a playoff run like that it obviously hurt, but it’s part of the game, it’s part of what we signed up for but you have to be professional about it and do whatever it takes to get back.”

It was occasionally hard to keep his head in the rehab process. Long days and tedious exercises, but Leonhard said he kept the big picture in his mind the whole time.

“It takes a strong person to come back from that and get back to where they were before the injury,” Smith said.

Now that the Jets are 6-5, ready to face Washington Sunday at 1 p.m. to keep playoff hopes alive, Leonhard said he’s glad to be back.

“Chasing the playoffs again, that’s why you do it,” Leonhard said.