Darrelle Revis Injury: Rex Ryan Holds off on IR for New York Jets Star Corner

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan announced Friday that star cornerback Darrelle Revis will not be put on injured reserve right away.

Revis—the Jets' best player—is expected to miss the season with an ACL tear that will require major surgery.

Rex's reasoning is that it is worth holding out hope:

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Let's see what happens when he goes through surgery, because if there's that 0.0002 percent chance that he could play in a Super Bowl or something, why would you take that option away from him? ... If you are fortunate enough to get there, why wouldn't you—at least if he does well in the surgery and he is healthy for that and he is targeted for that—why wouldn't you believe in yourself enough to give yourself that opportunity?

"

For those who are decimal-point impaired, that is a two-in-a-million chance—slightly better than one in a million, for what it's worth.

Without their most important player, it is unlikely that the Jets will reach the Super Bowl, of course. However, the more relevant issue here is that even if the Jets do make it that far, Revis will still not be healthy.

Let's assume the Jets reach the Super Bowl this year with Revis watching from the sidelines. That game would be on February 3, 2013—four months and a week from today. His surgery will be in about three weeks. That would give him three months to recover, rehab and get ready to play.

Optimistically, an athlete can recover from an ACL tear after about seventh months of hard work. A more normal schedule is 9-12 months. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson impressed a lot of people by returning from his ACL tear to play in Week 1 after only eight months.

The unfortunate fact is that there is no way Revis will be healthy enough to play football in February. So no matter what happens, he will not play again this year in the regular season or playoffs. Rex Ryan should be more concerned about whether or not Revis will be well enough to participate in OTAs next spring and summer.

If Revis is completely healthy and active in the 2013 preseason, that should be considered a success.

Adam Waksman is a featured columnist for the Bleacher Report New York Jets community. Be sure to follow Adam on Twitter to receive updates right away.

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