09/09 — Rex Ryan regaled reporters this afternoon about the merits of the Houston Texans offense. Among the numbers and rankings he recited or could have recited about the 2008 Texans inside the high walls of Reliant Stadium were these:

Houston ranked second in the NFL in most yards at home, 396.9 per game.

The Texans were third in passing yards at home, 276.4 per game.

They were second in most 25-yard pass plays at home, a total of 20 or 2½ per game.

They were first in first downs at home, 182 total or 22.8 per game.

But Ryan, of course, had a point to make, and the point was that he expects the Jets' defense to be up to the challenge when the teams open the regular season against each other in Houston on Sunday.

He was asked by Rich Cimini of the Daily News what makes him so confident in that unit, with two starters (Shaun Ellis, Calvin Pace) on the suspension bench and a mix of young and old players who've been learning his and Mike Pettine's scheme only since April or so.

"I think that's my experience," Rex responded. "I expect to play well. There's no excuses. We're down a couple of guys. We've been down a couple of guys before. It's not always going to be an ideal situation, but I think we have a lot of talent on defense and I think we're well-coached, and that's a credit to Mike Pettine and [Bob] Sutton and DT [Dennis Thurman] and all those guys over there.

"I think this group is getting better with their communication," he added. "I understand it's not where it's going to be come Week 10, but I think it's good enough. I think we're going to play to the strengths of our guys and I think our guys are ready to get after it.

"This is a good offense that we're going against. We know that. But they only got 11 over there and we got 11 on our side, so let's see what happens."

Injury Front

The only injury to speak of for Ryan was Mike DeVito's hamstring. Since DeVito is the guy behind Ellis on the depth chart, he's important. But Ryan gave an upbeat report after today's practice on the third-year man from Nauset, Mass., and the University of Maine.

"DeVito wasn't a full participant but he did participate in individual drills and we did give him a couple of team reps," the coach said, "so we're hoping he's ready to roll."

Other than that, Ryan said, "We should be in pretty good shape."

In fact, the Jets list five players on Rex's first injury report as an NFL head coach this afternoon, with DeVito listed under limited participation and the other four under full go. You can find today's injury report for both teams here.

Wall of Sound Returns

A familiar sound emanated from today's practice, one of loudness and noise and music.

The speakers were back on, simulating the sound Houston's fans can generate, whether the Reliant roof is open or especially closed. And as the Texans say in their weekly release, the roof "will likely be closed" Sunday since temperatures are expected to be in the upper 80s with a threat of rain at kickoff.

This is the first time such noise was pumped through the loudspeakers at practice, compared to the rap music and crowd cheers that Eric Mangini used from the first day of camp through the last practice of the season from 2006-08.

The few players whose opinions I sampled seemed OK with the return of the Florham Park sound machine.

"The preseason is a time for you to get down the base offense, to understand your position first," said DT Sione Pouha. "It's a chance to know where we are. Once we've established that, it's fine to throw in the crowd noise and music."

"It is very helpful. It's not annoying," said guard Brandon Moore. "The guys actually were asking for it. I asked Schotty [OC Brian Schottenheimer] last week if we were going to get the loudspeakers out."

No reports from Brian Mulligan, director of events and game operations whom I like to refer to as Dr. Bré, on today's playlist.