Sports briefs: Sept. 25 | Lexington Herald Leader

NFL

Jets' Revis likely out for season

The NFL's top shutdown cornerback will likely be shut down for the season. Darrelle Revis has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that will require surgery, a huge blow for the New York Jets that leaves Coach Rex Ryan without his best defensive player.

A somber Ryan stopped short of ruling Revis out for the season on Monday, saying he just learned of the MRI results. But Revis will have to wait two or three weeks before surgery, Ryan said, and the recovery from an ACL tear is usually six-to-nine months. So the chances of Revis returning this season appear extremely slim.

Ryan added that he will speak with Revis before the team decides whether he will be placed on injured reserve, a move that could happen as early as Tuesday.

"It's just disappointing," Ryan said. "This guy wants to win. As great a player as he is individually, he's a great teammate and just wants to win. That's why he was so excited about this year."

The 27-year-old Revis was injured in the third quarter of the Jets' 23-20 overtime victory at Miami on Sunday, falling awkwardly and grabbing his knee even before he hit the grass. It was a non-contact injury.

Leg injury latest setback for Stafford

The Matthew Stafford health watch began anew, an unpleasantly familiar move for the Detroit Lions. Stafford left late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 44-41 overtime loss at Tennessee with a strained muscle in his right leg, and although Shaun Hill played well in a relief role, the last thing the Lions want is a return to the days when their franchise quarterback wasn't able to stay healthy. Stafford was banged up as a rookie in 2009 and played only 10 games, and he was limited to three the following season because of problems with his throwing shoulder.

He finally made 16 starts last season, throwing for 5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns.

"We'll see how he progresses through this week," Coach Jim Schwartz said. "Friday we'll make a determination what that availability is — same as every team does."

Detroit hosts the Minnesota Vikings this weekend.

Jackson might be back Sunday for Bills

Fred Jackson to the rescue? The Buffalo Bills running back wasn't counting himself out on Monday, a day after C.J. Spiller went down with a left shoulder injury that's expected to keep him out for at least a week. Calling himself ahead of schedule in returning from a sprained right knee, Jackson gave himself a "70 to 75 percent chance" of playing on Sunday, when the Bills host New England.

"My mindset is to go. I'm playing. That is how I'm approaching it," Jackson said. "I think I've got a really good shot. I like my chances."

Coach Chan Gailey said tests taken on Monday showed the injury to Spiller wasn't as bad as initially feared. Gailey wasn't prepared to entirely rule out Spiller from playing Sunday against New England, but acknowledged the player has a better shot at playing the following weekend at San Francisco.

■ Tests performed on Reggie Bush's left knee showed no serious injury Monday, meaning the Dolphins might have their top offensive player available this weekend when they travel to face unbeaten Arizona. Bush has 302 rushing yards already this season.

■ Oakland Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was released from the hospital a day after being knocked out by a helmet-to-helmet hit and is expected to make a full recovery. Heyward-Bey suffered a concussion and a strained neck on the scary hit from Pittsburgh safety Ryan Mundy that stopped the game Sunday for more than 10 minutes as Heyward-Bey had to regain consciousness before being carted off the field and taken to the hospital.

Manning piling up INTs, incompletions

One week, it's interceptions. The next week, it's incompletions. In a 31-25 loss to Houston, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw 26 incompletions, the highest number of misconnections he's made in a single game over his 15-year career.

The Associated Press reviewed all 26 incompletions. Seven were overthrown, four were underthrown, four were dropped by Broncos receivers and four were dropped by Houston defenders. Three of the incompletions were grounded to stop the clock or avoid a sack, two were deflected by defenders in coverage and one was batted down at the line. The other one was an on-target pass to receiver Demaryius Thomas, who couldn't get his second foot down in the back of the end zone.

Etc.

New arena deal approved for Seattle

A wealthy hedge-fund manager won approval Monday for his plan to bring professional men's basketball and hockey back to Seattle, with initially skeptical city council members agreeing to put up $200 million for a new arena after he promised to personally guarantee the city's debt. Council members voted 6-2 to approve Chris Hansen's plan for a $490 million arena near the Seahawks and Mariners stadiums south of downtown.

Seattle hasn't had an NBA team since 2008, when the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, devastating their fans here. It's been quite a bit longer since Seattle had major-league hockey: The Metropolitans, who won the Stanley Cup in 1917, disbanded in 1924.

Americans ahead in Junior Ryder Cup

Casie Cathrea, Karen Chung and Esther Lee each won two team matches Monday in the Junior Ryder Cup to help the United States take a 61/2-41/2 lead over Europe in Olympia Fields, Ill. The two-day event will conclude Tuesday with 12 singles matches. The United States won in 2008 and 2010 to square the series 3-3-1.

"We lost a few holes in a row a few times today but we didn't get down and kept each other up all day," the 16-year-old Cathrea said after the morning match. "We played well as a team and it feels great to get a point for the United States."

The last word

Jason Witten wishes he could blame the dropped passes on his spleen injury or the time he missed because of it. The Dallas Cowboys' seven-time Pro Bowl tight end instead said he just isn't making the plays:

"I wish there was a way I could say I wasn't feeling good, or I'm pressing or anything like that. It's not that. That would be the easy way to really get out of it, but bottom line is, you've got to get it fixed. It's unacceptable."