10/21 — It was one of those happy coincidences. Rex Ryan was a few minutes into his news conference today and was answering a question about any concerns he might have about quarterback Mark Sanchez's emotions.

"That's the beauty of him," the Jets head coach replied. "I want him to be himself, and he's Cool Hand Luke, he normally is. Now that thing right there, you throw five interceptions in a game, I think all of us would be affected.

"But he was ready to go. He never wavered. He just knew he was going to lead his team down the field and we were going to kick the field goal to win the game. And I don't think one guy on our team didn't believe him.

"So that's where I think we got the right guy."

Just as Rex was saying that, Sanchez, one of the last players still on the practice field, was wrapping up some extracurricular work with his wide receivers and was ready to jog in. But as usual, he stopped for a game of "Crossbar."

He and his fellow QBs (and a few other players up for the challenge) played this during training camp and come back to it after practices now: Who can hit the crossbar with a thrown football from 20, 25, 30 yards away? It's more like a game of ring toss on the boardwalk or a fan field goal challenge at halftime. Even for pro QBs, this is a hard thing to do.

Sanchez was playing crossbar solitaire today. He picked up one football and let it fly from 40 yards, maybe 45. Ping! Dead-center off the bar.

The rookie QB normally talks with reporters today and he will still do that, but he couldn't fill his normal slot in front of his locker during media availability because things were running late and he had a meeting to attend. But Sanchez's interview with reporters will be held in the media room today at 5 p.m., with the session set to be streamed live on newyorkjets.com and archived as soon as possible so that if you don't catch it live, you can hear it at your leisure.

Of course, you come to expect the opponents to turn on the smoke machine about the QB they'll be facing on Sunday, no matter how many picks they threw the week before. But Raiders coach Tom Cable, a no-nonsense guy, sounded sincere in his simple assessment of Sanchez on his conference call with Jets reporters earlier today.

"I expect to see the player I saw earlier in the year, a guy that’s in control," Cable said. "The big key for him is that they run the ball so darn well, so I’m sure they’ll try to play off that. He’ll bounce back. He’s a good player.

Green & White's Health

Ryan's early injury report had some interesting caveats. For instance, the Jets are listing four players as "Did Not Participate" in today's practice — WRs Jerricho Cotchery (hamstring) and Brad Smith (quadriceps), CB Lito Sheppard (quad) and T Damien Woody (knee/foot).

But Rex said although Cotchery and Smith didn't work during team drills, which is what the DNP classification means, "They did do some individual things, so hopefully they'll be ready to roll."

The Jets are also listing WR Braylon Edwards (quadriceps), as limited, but the coach's take is "I think he's going to be fine for the game."

Woody continues to rest during the week and start and play well on gamedays. As he said after Sunday's Bills game, "I'll be fine. It's OK. That's part of the game, man, just deal with it."

Sheppard is another story. Ryan, asked if his corner had a setback vs. Buffalo, said, "Yeah, he did. It's maybe not quite as bad [as it was in previous weeks] but I don't feel real confident he'll be playing this week."

Rex Cetera

Ryan said of today's practice: "I felt our team was a little off today. Something wasn't just clicking or whatever. I mentioned that to them. ... I just felt it was a little off and I can't put my finger on why." He said it was not an energy issue.

Asked if Kellen Clemens will get any first-team reps this week, he said no more than usual. "Sometimes the ones are up, sometimes the twos are up," he explained. "He does get reps during the week, but the majority of the reps won't change. Mark will be getting the majority of the reps."

Ryan, told that DE Richard Seymour, once a Patriot and now a Raider, said he expects all the Sanchez talk this week means the Jets will run the ball like crazy, agreed. In fact, the Jets coach gave out the game plan (or a greatly modified version of the game plan) for Oakland: "It's no surprise. We're going to run and play-action. That's our game plan. They know it. And that's their game plan against us, too."