Shonn Greene is not reliable enough for the Jets

A Thursday night game after a Sunday night game is hard enough.

Now take out your top two running backs and you’re asking for it.

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The New York Jets, already without LaDainian Tomlinson last night in Denver, lost running back Shonn Greene early in the first quarter to a rib injury.

Despite being seen on the sidelines in full uniform in the fourth quarter, Greene never returned, leaving Joe McKnight and Bilal Powell to carry the load.

The result was a 17-13 Denver Broncos victory.

“I felt alright, but Joe [McKnight] and Bilal [Powell] were going good,” said Greene after the game via the New York Daily News.

Interesting comments considering McKnight and Powell were anything but good.  McKnight coughed up the ball on special teams, missed a direct snap, and had 16 carries for 59 yards.  Powell had 11 yards on 7 carries and fumbled at the Broncos goal-line.

Where was Greene?

Notorious for getting injured (see AFC Championship Game 2009), Greene has proven that he’s not the top running back the Jets hoped he would be.  Despite his size and ability to hit defenders sometimes harder than they hit him, Greene has shown that he can’t catch the ball out of the backfield and stay healthy long enough to make a difference.

Just add running back to the many positions the Jets need to fill for 2012.

Oh, X-Rays on Greene’s ribs were negative.