10/02 — Rex Ryan announced today that it's back to Plan CB for a second week.

The Jets head coach said at this afternoon's final news conference of the week that cornerbacks Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland will both miss their second straight game when the Jets take on the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday.

"They're out. They're not going to play this week," Ryan said. "We keep hoping we'll be able to get 'em back, and they're doing a lot better running and things like that. But they're not ready to go 100 percent."

Ryan didn't wait for reporters to ask him the' usual question at such a juncture: "If this was a playoff game, could they go?"

"We probably could play them right now if we had to," he said, "but I don't think it's fair to them. They haven't practiced for two weeks, so that's why we decided to list them as out."

This isn't the news Jets Nation wanted to hear, considering the vaunted reputation of Drew Brees and the Saints offense at moving the ball up and down the field and into the end zone. But Ryan said he was happy with the realignment in his secondary for Tennessee, with Dwight Lowery getting the start for Sheppard at right corner and Drew Coleman coming in for Strickland on the nickel.

And all things considered, Ryan and coordinator Mike Pettine were happy enough not to push GM Mike Tannenbaum to sign one of the veteran CBs they brought in for visits last week in former Raven Corey Ivy and former Jet and Raider Justin Miller.

"We thought about it. We definitely thought about it," the coach said. "But we like our plan with our guys going forward. We do have four safeties, so we can move guys around if we need to."

And the production on the defense's back end has been strong, considering that Sheppard (quad) and Strickland (ankle) both got hurt against New England and have therefore missed roughly the last 1½ games. The Green & White pass defense is ranked fifth in the NFL, first in the league in yards allowed per pass play, and No. 1 in opponents' completion percentage — the Jets are in fact the only team to hold enemy QBs to less than 50 percent accuracy.

One less-heralded measure of a team's pass defense is opponents' passer rating, and despite the missing parts, the Jets still have the second-best passer rating in the NFL. Here are the top four and the opposing passers' stats:

So there's every reason to think the Jets defense can give the Saints offense all they can handle regardless of their current injury status (and all nine other players on the Jets' injury list are going into the game as "probable" and expected to play). As Rex said of the Saints:

"They can beat you running the football. They're second in the league in running, No. 1 in scoring, No. 1 in total offense, so they can throw it. Last year Brees almost broke the all-time record for most yardage. So they pile up yards throwing the ball, they pile it up running the ball.

"But they haven't played us yet, so we'll see what happens. We know they can get yards. We've got to keep 'em out of the end zone."

E.Smith Is an X-Factor

Eric Smith is one of those safeties Rex referenced above, and he is playing and contributing in a whole raft of roles this season.

"The last time I think I played this many positions," Smith told me today, "might've been in high school."

Smith didn't break down all the different roles, which he says changes from game to game, but we know about safety in the base defense and a DB in the dime. And he's also a quasi-linebacker or "X" role in the dime that often lines him up next to Bart Scott and David Harris in a 3-3 look.

The fourth-year man has blitzed from that spot, and he also picked up the fourth interception of his career and his first in the Ryan regime when he followed Chris Johnson out of the backfield and was in perfect position to pick off Kerry Collins' second-quarter throw.

"It was nice," Smith said. "I saw it go over Dwight's hands and dropped right into my hands."

Smitty is one reason the Jets are good to go into New Orleans down two corners.

"Our scheme's a lot of fun," he said. "You don't get put into bad situations. There are no times when you're out there trying to figure out what you're supposed to be doing at the snap. ... Everybody knows what they're doing. There's no confusion going into the game, so at the snap you can play a lot faster and freer."

And Smith likes wearing his multiple hats and being a jack of all trades and a master of all.

"I'm comfortable with it," he said. "I'm just happy to be out there on the field. Whatever they ask me to do, I'm going to do it."