By Tom Rock
While the Jets have made no formal announcement, they are preparing for Sunday’s game against the Bills without Jonathan Vilma, and there appears to be a strong possibility that they will be without the inside linebacker and defensive captain for a while.
Tests on Vilma’s knee reportedly revealed a “significant” injury that could require surgery and sideline the Pro Bowler for the season. In his daily briefing, Eric Mangini offered little in the way of an update on Vilma, refusing to even disclose which was the problem knee. He did confirm that Vilma will not practice today, the second-straight day he will miss.
“We’re just going to have to see,” Mangini said when asked if Vilma will practice at all this week. Asked if Vilma could be facing surgery, Mangini said: “It’s really just going to matter what the results (of the tests) are, and talk to the doctors and put together the best plan.”
Mangini said the injury occurred in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, though there was no apparent play on which the injury took place. Vilma did not start the second half of the game and played sparingly in the third and fourth quarters.
Vilma had denied Mangini’s announcement that he was injured in a radio interview on Tuesday. Mangini dismissed that denial based on Vilma’s “toughness.” “Guys, when they’re dealing with any type of setback, they deal with it differently,” Mangini said.
Vilma has 39 tackles and an interception this season. He has tallied at least 100 tackles in each of his three previous NFL seasons. Last year, remarkably, he was on the field for every one of the team’s defensive snaps.