Jets' Glenn won't start Sunday

Pro Bowl DB hobbled by ankle injury, will see playing time

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Posted: Friday January 08, 1999 03:40 PM

Glenn: "It's a big game and I want to play, even if it means just playing a couple of plays." Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Pro Bowl cornerback Aaron Glenn will not start the New York Jets' AFC playoff game Sunday against Jacksonville because of a sprained ankle.

New York coach Bill Parcells said Friday that Glenn will play, but would not reveal anything about his team's strategy in using Glenn, who has missed the last 3 1/2 games.

"I won't tell you how I am deploying the players," Parcells said. "It has nothing to do with his layoff. What I am saying is, we have certain jobs we want him to do and we think he can do them, and he tells me he can. As the game goes on, we'll see how he does."

Glenn practiced each day during the Jets' two weeks of preparations for their first postseason game in eight years. He said having a bye helped his ankle, but that there still is pain -- and probably will be for a long time.

"I have to be honest with him and with myself," said Glenn, who led the Jets with six interceptions and made the Pro Bowl for the second straight year. "It's a big game and I want to play, even if it means just playing a couple of plays.

"It's important to him that I play. I think he wants me to play and it is important to me to play. If I feel I can be productive and help the team and he feels that way, he'll play me."

Glenn's replacement, Ray Mickens, usually is the nickel back, covering the slot receiver. But in his three starts in place of his Texas A&M buddy, Mickens has played well on the corner.

Against Jacksonville, Mickens knows the Jets will need to get as much production from Glenn as possible.

"They have Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith, both guys who've been to the Pro Bowl," Mickens said. "You don't get to the Pro Bowl for doing nothing.

"This is my third year in the NFL and I have gotten better as a player physically and mentally since Bill Parcells and [defensive coordinator] Bill Belichick got here. You see me play well and you know I've got that confidence. If I play like crap and say I have all the confidence in the world, then people will say I am lying."

Glenn is most likely to play against three-receiver alignments, but Parcells didn't rule out more work if Glenn isn't hobbled.

Regardless, Glenn is glad to be back in uniform, even if it means just participating in a minimum number of plays.

"Even if I play on punt teams," he said, "I want to get out there."

 

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